Commercial - "Isn't it time someone called cut?" - Woman's Aid, Joe Wright and Keira Knightly

Made by Grey London, directed by 'Atonement’s' Joe Wright, and staring Keira Knightly, Woman’s Aid domestic violence commercial is currently viewing in a handful of cinemas across the UK. Sooner or later the ad will run on terrestrials, however, transmission restrictions and ‘graphic content’ means that the agency is still in negotiations with Clearcast – which is vaguely amusing, because really the ad isn’t so much ‘graphic’ as dark and disturbing. It’s haunting and smart, and sassy as can be, connecting with the viewer, the abused, and the silent, on levels previously unseen in these types of campaigns. Pale yet visually stunning in an almost everyday way, it lulls into a false sense of calm before swinging into the insanity and eventual solitary that abuse is so often about. The hook essentially lies in its ‘reality-within-film’ angle, which is all very reminiscent of Peter Greenaway’s ‘The Baby of Mâcon’. And that’s a good thing, because it makes the reasoning behind the promo all the more concentrated yet accessible.