The Depression Club
| The Depression Club | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Daniël Jaco |
| Screenplay by | Daniël Jaco Pieter Strauss Eddie van de Merwe |
| Starring | Ashton Lynes Pieter Dunbarr Elijah Larkins Molly Mitchell Anthony Dry |
| Cinematography | Ruan de Villiers-Breybach |
| Music by | John Macklroy |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | SBC |
Release dates |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | Satavia |
| Language | Estmerish |
| Budget | €1 million |
The Depression Club (stylised as thedepressionclub) is a 2023 Satavian television psychological drama directed and produced by Daniël Jaco and featuring an ensemble cast of Satavian actors. The film focuses on the lives of several unrelated individuals, brought together by attendance at a peer-led mutual aid group for people suffering with depression. The film examines themes of anxiety, depression, self-harm, substance abuse, suicide and other social issues.
The film was a production of the Satavian Broadcasting Corporation. It received funding from the SBC, National Lottery, as well as from various charities aimed at suicide prevention and intervention. The film was created to increase public awareness about Satavia's "silent epidemic", which has seen the suicide rate in Satavia rise to 20.1 (approximately double the global average), giving Satavia the highest suicide rate in the Asterias and the 13th highest in the world. In particular, Jaco stated the film was aimed at young men who are disproportionately affected by suicide. The film premiered at the Montecara Film Festival in October 2023 and was first aired on Satavian television on 3 November. Due to its themes and mature content , the film was awarded an age classification of 18 in Satavia and was consequently shown after watershed on SBC 1. Additionally, the SBC broadcast the film with an added disclaimer warning that it contained "extremely distressing and graphic scenes".
Plot
The film opens during a tropical storm; we see Tom Shaw (Ashton Lynes), a handsome, dishevelled, 20-year old, walking hurriedly. As he walks through the streets, people around him rush to escape the rain; prominently featured is an advertisement warning of bulimia in teenage girls, which then swaps to a Top Dog advert depicting a teenage girl eating a large combination meal. As he approaches a derelict warehouse, he stops and takes a breath before pushing the door open and entering. The room is poorly lit and laid out with plastic deck chairs. Tom exchanges glances with the others in the room, before The Therapist (Edouard Florence) asks everyone to be seated and beckons for Tom to introduce himself. As Tom speaks, we see his childhood memories; we see Young Tom Shaw (Phoenix Turner) at school where he is a member of the First XV rugby team and obviously popular, but struggles academically. As he returns home we see his father, who is under the influence of drugs, physically abusing his mother and then turning his anger on Young Tom Shaw. Tom Shaw remembers how he was set-up for a promising rugby career; he signs a professional contract on his 18th birthday and goes out to celebrate. Whilst drunk, he gets into a physical fight with his father, before stealing his father's car and crashes into another vehicle on a bridge. He remembers stumbling out of the car, and otherwise reveals nothing further.
The camera now pans to the man seated next to Tom Shaw; 39 year old, Carter Arnold (Pieter Dunbarr). Arnold talks and reminisces of his childhood; we see Young Carter Arnold (Dane Coles) excel at school work and grow up in a privileged and loving background, attending a private school. He marries his childhood sweetheart, and with her has two daughters. He rises through the ranks of the law firm he works at and is already a Senior Partner. We see Arnold, his wife and two children celebrating his daughter's eight birthday in a restaurant, before Arnold drives them home. They stop at a traffic light; as it turns green, Arnold leisurely accelerates away, only to be broadsided by another vehicle. Despite his blury vision and shock, Arnold turns around to check on his children, both of whom are unhurt; his wife, however, is slumped in the passenger seat, dead. He tells how the driver of the other vehicle was drunk, and that since his wife's death he has struggled with a drinking problem of his own, which combined with the challenges of raising two daughters has lead him to spiral into a state of depression.
Charli Whitford , a 45 year-old housewife, now tells her story. She talks about her husband - who is signifciantly older than her - and that she fell deeply in love with him twenty years prior. We see her as Young Charli Whitford (Indiana Rhodes) being she says that despite the fact he had four previous marriages, their marriage had always been loving and happy - and was his longest by far. However, two weeks ago she discovered that he was having an afair with a much younger woman, and was heartbroken. She says she has begun to struggle with her self-worth, and that she felt trapped in what had become a loveless marriage; she says she felt unsafe to tell him about
Cast
- Ashton Lynes as Tom Shaw
- Phoenix Turner as Young Tom Shaw
- Pieter Dunbarr as Carter Arnold
- Dane Coles as Young Carter Arnold
- Molly Mitchell as Charli Whitford
- Indiana Rhodes as Young Charli Whitford
- Elijah Larkins as Jack Smuts
- Jacob Radek as Young Jack Smuts
- Anthony Dry as Leo Ronin
- Hennie McMahon as Young Leo Ronin
- Patrick Cosby as Jannie Murphy
- Duke Gambon as Young Jannie Murphy
- Edouard Florence as The Therapist
Production
Release
Soundtrack
| The Depression Club: Are You Lonely? | |
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| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | 24 October 2023 |
| Label | Mountpara Music |
Audio Sample  This Side of Paradise by Coyote Theory | |
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