“Hello, Muscles”
SAFF 2022 Award Winner
Summertime in Scotland.
11-year-old Victoria lives with her mum and Samson the dog, along with Trevor, her mum’s boyfriend. Victoria hates Trevor. He’s a brute who calls her ‘Twiglet’ and locks Samson in a cage. But when she catches him stealing from her mum’s purse, Victoria realises enough is enough, she needs to get tough and get rid of Trevor once and for all.
But on her quest to build muscles, Victoria uncovers a different kind of strength, and reveals what it really means to be strong.
Director Biography
Marnie Baxter is an actress with 25 years’ experience working in TV, film, and theatre.
Hello, Muscles is Marnie's third short film as a director. Her first, Bad Mother, played over 30 festivals worldwide, winning several awards and was described by Mark Kermode as ‘an excellently unsettling directorial debut’. Her second, Do This For Me, premiered at BFI Flare in 2022 and is currently on the festival circuit.
Marnie's acting credits include TV roles in Annika (UKTV), Shetland (BBC), Karen Pirie (World Productions), Six Four (ITV), Coronation Street and Emmerdale (ITV). Recent films include The Last Bus, Marionette, The Tormented.
Director’s Statement
In my research for Hello, Muscles, I had in-depth conversations with young carers and young adult carers up and down the UK. The thing that kept coming up with them and the charities that support them is that young carers are often hidden from view and hard to detect, attempting to juggle their caring role with their friends and schoolwork, often too scared to seek support. Scared of the stigma attached, of being bullied; scared of losing their families if they reach out and ask for help. It can take a long time to realise that you are a young carer and entitled to ask for support. And until you do, life can be incredibly lonely.
Hello, Muscles is an exploration of how it might feel to come to terms with your role as a young carer. When we first meet Victoria, she’s trapped and alone, stuck between her mum and the boyfriend, her mum’s carer. But throughout the film, Victoria becomes determined to find the strength to care for her mum herself and realises, with a little bit of help along the way, that she has the courage to face her mother’s illness. This is only her first step – but it is a huge one.
Young Carers should be heard, respected, and supported. Hello, Muscles is a film about their strength, asking us all what it means to be strong when caring for someone you love.