Family, Appearances, and Dysfunction
“Whirlpool” follows 12-year-old Anna as she prepares for her family’s Christmas photograph. Having the family professionally photographed was Anna’s Mum’s idea—Mum wants to include the photo in the Christmas cards that she sends to all of her international friends every year. To Mum, it’s extremely important to show these friends that her family is perfect—this is why she forces her husband and daughters, Anna and Louise, to wear their best clothes and then…
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Power, Control, and Freedom
Anna and Louise’s Mum is extremely controlling, as she will go to great lengths to manipulate or bully her family members into looking or acting a certain way. However, there’s one thing that Mum can’t control: the above-ground pool in the backyard, and her husband and daughters’ love for it. The pool is the one place where Anna, Louise, and Dad can feel autonomous and joyful. By exploring this tension between Mum and her…
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Cruelty, Self-Esteem, and Adolescence
Though Mum attempts to control almost every aspect of her husband and daughters’ lives, she’s particularly interested in controlling her daughters’ bodies. At 12 years old, Anna is on the brink of puberty; Kennedy never reveals Louise’s age, but she seems close in age to Anna. Despite the fact that her daughters are approaching their teen years, Mum does everything in her power to keep them looking and feeling as young and powerless as…
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