I was back home in the UK for the summer, and after spending the year in pre-production, I just recently wrapped a short film called “Scrutiny of Friendship” (S.O.F), set in rural England. For an absurd amount of time, I had been trying to make a story that reflected what my friends and I had been through, and I wanted to create something relatable and authentic.
When the film’s script was entering its early stages of development, I started to get annoyed and frustrated about a lot of topics going on around me: the perception that we live in a black-and-white world, the struggle for university applications and how we were always brushing over the thoughts of young men and what they’re going through.
I started to realise that the world would begin to focus on these topics, and people would seem to realise what was going on, but we would then get distracted by something else and forget about these issues. This is still the case with many problems.
During this time, it was difficult; I remember seeing a lot of boys, especially my friends, struggling to talk about the problems that they had going on in their lives; alongside this was a similar time when my friends were receiving back university results, there was always this black and white view that was imposed on everyone, if the correct decision was to go to university or if the correct decision was to stay.
It always felt like people had been pushed into a corner and that these were our only choices when it came to university, but what I wanted to do with S.O.F was highlight that third option, the option that nobody talks about and confront the harsh reality of this option, when it’s all we have left.
Throughout the film, I had a desire to use the locations and other attributes also to depict the story that we couldn’t see amongst the boy’s dialogue – to enforce further the theme that men keep their emotions hidden. Along with the film, I’ve been pursuing and advocating to raise awareness for the importance of Film in the British countryside and how places in rural England, like the area where we shot the film (The Quantocks), should be preserved and maintained, and not be ruined by the urban aspect of life.
However, I realised that this rural scenic land is a distraction, a distraction that can help tell the story.
There was a very strong feeling about using the aesthetics of the Quantocks in Somerset as a location for S.O.F. When the script was in its early stages, I had been debating whether I wanted to set it in the UK or in California, where I spend most of my time now. But I realised this a problem that affected my friends from home and the story should be kept as authentic as it can. The Quantocks acts as that distraction that we’ve had in our lives when it comes to talking about issues and opening up to people:
People see something’s wrong; they get close, look them in the eyes and tell them they’re listening, thinking they’re about to understand what’s going on, but they turn their heads the moment people begin to open up; they get distracted and see something else that interests them, breaking that trust and those boys never opening up again.
A lot of boys go on to think that nobody cares about them or that nobody wants to hear what they think. I wanted the theme of struggling to open to correlate with the distraction of the UK’s natural beauty; I wanted this serene land to tell the story or to be more than just a wide.
As S.O.F was entering production, I had been wanting to cross between a dream-like world and reality; I wanted to have the boys show their backs to the camera and hide their faces to emphasise confusion and fear amongst the watcher, just like the way I know boys had felt and then send the audience down this dark rabbit hole; I wanted to depict that feeling that was hidden and inside their heads. But, this time, as the story unfolds, we go in front of them and finally see the face they’re hiding; however, this time, there’s no distraction.
I wanted this film to highlight that in today’s world, we’re made to think that there are two sides to everything and that there are only two options when it comes to life. We’re living in a more divided world where one side is the correct side, and that’s the side you should take, but that’s not the case; I wanted to show this with the parallels of the film and constant mirrored images throughout.
I’m seeing friends finish school with four A-levels, A’s in each subject, volunteering and work experience for them to not get a single offer from a university. With the UK acceptance rates in universities gradually declining over the years, making it harder for students to get in, it’s a situation that needs to be addressed.
We’re living in a world where we’ve incorporated the word “How are you?” when we speak to friends like it’s the word “Hello”, and people reply with “I’m good” because that’s just the routine of it.
I wanted the boys in the film to represent both these sides of the debate and highlight the themes of staying and going and show the clash of these two sides, furthermore showing the consequences of it. We’re living in a world where we judge everything about everyone and scrutinise students to their core, which entails a story about a world that keeps two options dominant to hide the concerning question of what to do when we’re forced to arrive at our third option, the option that we don’t talk about.
I want people to watch this film and scrutinise the two boys’ friendship because it’s not just a film about friendship.
Ralph Hutchins is a Writer and Director from Somerset, England, with a real passion for filmmaking. His work focuses on telling authentic stories, often with a dark twist, drawn from real-world experiences. Alongside his creative projects, Ralph is a strong advocate for preserving the rural landscapes of England and believes in the importance of keeping filmmaking and these rural areas rooted for future generations. You can find Ralph on Instagram @rdjfilm or at his website here
