2. Plot Line
Flashbacks of 3 small girls, ages ranging from 1-5.
Girls are happy, smiling, laughing, playing.
Woman in one flashback can be seen washing pots and the interacting with the
eldest child by giving her a necklace to wear.
Necklace close up shots are used to subtly hint that this object may play a key
part in the film.
Happy flashbacks suddenly end and upbeat music stops playing.
Screen turns black and some titles are shown with daunting music in the
background which is not obvious to what it is. The sounds increase to more
disturbing noises such as a loud bang, a woman beginning to scream and children
crying.
These noises fade out and a tap can be heard dripping.
The woman’s head from the flashback is shown to be submerged in a sink, a calm
expression on her face.
The woman takes her head out of the sink, and goes to get changed showing a shot
of her pulling a jumper over her head and back.
Pictures around the home are shown of the girls and woman, making it evident to
the audience that this woman is the mother.
3. The mother listens to a voicemail from an unknown character (although we know
that this character is a friend as they are being very sympathetic towards the
mother).
The quietness and lonely, vacant expression of the mother suggests that the
sounds that were heard earlier had been the reason for her being alone, without
the children in the house- they had been kidnapped.
A letter can be seen to be dropped through the front door.
The mother collects the letter.
She opens the letter and pulls out the necklace she had given her daughter that
we had witnessed in the flashback.
It is evidence from the kidnapper as there is no writing, address or name on the
letter. This puts into the mind of the audience that the children may still be alive
or that the kidnapper is playing games with the mother and police.
The clip fades and switches to a slow motion video of the necklace dangling
against a white background.
The title ‘Purloined’ appears.
From this, the audience can then begin to make assumptions as to the whereabouts
and well being of the children and what the mother will do about what she has just
been given by the anonymous source. This creates suspense as to what happens in the
rest of the film.