EIGHT OF SWORDS, 19min., UK, Drama
Directed by Patricia Downey
Set in Belfast, in an ordinary house, in an ordinary street – it could be your street or next door. Helena from Poland and locals Patsy and Eva fight for survival under the rein of Russian Human traffickers.

Review by Victoria Olson:

The film, EIGHT OF SWORDS, gives an inside look at the world of human trafficking from the perspective of the women who’ve been victimized to the point that they’ve become numb to the harsh realities of their world. Director Patricia Downey did a wonderful job at depicting the coldness of a subject many artists refuse to capture in ways that feel realistic. This film was nuanced, showing the reasons each of the women became involved in trafficking drugs and sex while still portraying them as human beings that can easily hide amongst the general public without anyone suspecting that something might be wrong behind closed doors.

The leader of this particular operation, Patsy, at first glance appears cold and callous. She’s merely doing what it takes to survive so that her daughter is not killed in Cairo. This is something she proves when she’s willing to kill Helena to protect her own child. Helena is quite the opposite, protecting her own son but wanting to go to the police to be done with this world.

This film also has an important aspect that anyone addicted to social media and desperate for fame should see as it portrays the real dangers behind apps such as TikTok. Olivia should have had a bright future, but she trusted who she met online and ends up in a would where she might never see her family again as she’s trafficked to different parts of the world. This is something many individuals, particularly adolescents, should see because it puts the scenario into a real world situation that is understandable and frightening rather than just words that often fall on deaf ears.

Downey used a brilliant technique of not using a score, making this film feel more like a documentary rather than a narrative. This method is a way that will stick with the viewer as they witness what the world is like from the victims and that it is not an easy situation to walk away from to get help.

Human trafficking is a relevant topic discussed on social media platforms and in the news media on how to end it and who’s involved, when a film like EIGHT OF SWORDS shows that it would be difficult to discern who truly is involved as the victims can blend in with the rest of the society. This film can bring further discussion on the travesty that is drug and sex trafficking so that perhaps one day it can be put in the past as a moment of the world’s dark past.

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