Brevity and unity in Small Deaths

Short fiction films generally present brief and concise stories focused on a single character or dramatic moment. Following an episodic structure, Lynne Ramsay’s Small Deaths introduces a series of events from a young girl’s life. The film compresses the passing of time from childhood to early adult life into three delimited and crucial moments. Focusing on Lynne Ramsay’s fragmented storytelling, this article discusses the relations of brevity and unity with the segmented narrative of the film, ultimately emphasizing the role of repetition as a unifying factor.