Synopsis for Practical

The film focuses on Mara, our protagonist,  a teenage girl in college struggling with anxiety who is being stalked by a mysterious figure in black. We follow her through a normal school day as she is forced to fight against the figure, a physical representation of her mental illness.

We see how she is haunted by nightmares of the figure in a metaphorical game of chess throughout her day, which is used to foreshadow Mara’s inevitable final confrontation with the figure, in which she loses against it.

During the film, Mara and the figure are the main characters with some minor appearances from background characters, such as her Maths teacher who contributes to her growing anxiety by asking her to answer a question in class and the other students in class.

Our film is a psychological horror, to show the harm that mental illness causes and the feeling it gives to those who suffer with it, for example feelings of isolation and hopelessness. In the end, the film can be seen as a representation of how those suffering with mental health issues see their illness as a monster they have to fight against, which may feel impossible to beat.

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