Only Yourself to Blame
Two girls on a night out, Sian having had more to drink than is good for her but fortunately being looked after by Mai; the last bus long gone, a taxi pulls up and Mai bundles her best friend inside before walking home alone through the darkened streets.
The sight of three guys hanging about ahead causing her to divert her path, pulling her hood up as she takes a detour, Mai senses that she is being followed, a shadow which echoes her moves, a mirror image which pauses when she pauses, runs when she runs, closing on her as she reaches the underpass…
A woman’s film about women’s fears, Only Yourself to Blame is written and directed by Noomi Yates with Severine Simone as Mai, scared for the friend who she sent home alone without ensuring her safety, scared for herself in a hostile environment, conditioned to be a victim, her inner guilt manifesting into the thing which at first pursues and then attacks her.
With Megan Purvis as Sian, barely conscious in the back of the taxi, Only Yourself to Blame is less about what does happen as what might happen and the barrage of justifications men have for their inability to control themselves, that woman dress too provocatively, that they invite unwanted attention, Mai taking her doubt and mastering it, refusing to be another victim of bad circumstance.
Only Yourself to Blame will be available on the the Arrow platform from Friday 13th September
