“Travel and tell no one, live a true love story and tell no one, live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things” - Kahlil Gibran. Kate is travelling alone around the far North of Scotland in a dilapidated van when she unexpectedly finds a runaway child who calls herself Grace. Grace is scared and vulnerable but very resistant to going to the authorities, so Kate offers to look after her for a short while, in the hope she can ultimately persuade the child to hand herself in. Grace soon finds herself drawn into Kate’s endearing but isolated existence, creating short-lived sculptures in lonely parts of the landscape. However, their relationship is extremely precarious. Whilst Grace becomes increasingly fond and trustful of her rescuer, she also reveals herself to be disturbingly delinquent and manipulative. Meanwhile Kate seems to be struggling physically and mentally somehow, and not just with the burden of looking after Grace. When a local photographer takes an interest in them, hard truths are revealed. Ultimately one of our heroines is doomed, but which one? Beautiful things is a very practical fairytale, weaving folk myths with the hard cold modern reality of poverty, abuse, and the desperation of being trapped in “the system”. It is about trying to halt time, trap shadows and escape chains. It is also a more primal story of blood, fire, and sacrifice. Spend some time with broken people in the lonely Scottish landscape, and question what it is to be free.
