Super close Mother LYN and daughter IONA (Dafty One and Dafty Two) are excited for their new life in a new town. Determined to make a success of things after a tricky start, Iona becomes 'best friends' with KEELY, STACEY and CHELSEA.
Doesn't take it easy on the viewer, but there's plenty here to admire, including two sharp performances gracefully interpreting a slow descent into parental and teenager Hell.
Haywood's formidable first feature is at once a ruthless dissection of cruelty, capturing the relentless torment of outcasts for the pleasure of self-styled superiors, and a warm evocation of an interdependent mother-daughter bond.
For sheer distinctiveness of vision, and for the visceral portrayal of how it feels to be bullied, first time director Deborah Haywood deserves plaudits, as do her two lead actresses. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with next.
Taking a very dark turn late in the second act, Pin Cushion's eccentric craft-fair aesthetic is ultimately protective cushioning wrapped around a broken heart.
An equally tragic and funny, magical realism and coming-of-age story, odd and creatively refreshing. It is a film unlike anything we've seen before and deserving of our attention.
Writer-director Deborah Haywood makes her feature directorial debut with the surreal and whimsical mother-daughter nightmare Pin Cushion, driven by a singular vision and masterful control of a unique tone, which tiptoes the line of beauty and terror.
