Bexley students film Behind Closed Doors increases funds for Women’s Aid charity

A student from Bexley has helped Women’s Aid charity with her film Behind Closed Doors, inspired by her mother’s experience of alleged domestic violence and the impact of Covid-19 on those stuck in abusive relationships, writes Miranda Slade.

Kaitlyn Boxall, 21, who studies at Ravensbourne University, on the Greenwich Peninsula was three weeks old when her mother fled to a women’s refuge with her baby.

Her mother gave up a career as a manager of a care home to move in with her partner, the alleged beating began when she fell pregnant, but she would always protect her pregnancy bump while suffering at the hands of her ex-partner.

Ms Boxall said her mother remembers her ex-partner saying to her: ‘I will not be happy until you and the baby in your stomach are in a coffin’.

“The film is not based on my mother’s experience but inspired by her. The film is about a woman who is married into the abuse, and she’s stuck because she’s got two kids and a mortgage. My mum was in a situation where she could leave because she wasn’t married to him – even though it took her a lot of courage to do that.”

Behind Closed Doors tells the story of Lisa Crawford, played by Holly Prentice, who is trapped in an abusive marriage.

Lisa’s best friend encourages her to see a counsellor, Aaron, played by Vasile Marin, and soon Lisa finds herself becoming attracted to him.

This is the second feature film Ms Boxall has made. She made her first film Someone Like You, about a loved one killed in a knife attack, in 2019.

Ms Boxall made Behind Closed Doors as an independent project when her university course was paused due to coronavirus.

She said: “I started off with researching it before we dived into the production and I had a lot of talks with Women’s Aid about how this should be portrayed.”

After filming took place in North Greenwich and Stratford, the film was released on YouTube and after a few weeks, and many views, production companies from around the world bought the streaming rights.

The film can be streamed on Mulat Media.

Ms Boxall said that since watching the films, people suffering domestic abuse have been inspired to come forward.

She said: “It’s heartwarming for me to know that this has made a difference. I took this on as a personal independent film project, put it out there, and I didn’t expect it to get the write-ups that it got.

“The film ends on a cliffhanger that shows Covid is now on the news, and Lisa loses access to all her mental health support.

“The ending especially captivated a lot of viewers. I realised that people around us are going through it, and they actually spoke up about it.”

Ms Boxall has filmed a sequel to Behind Closed Doors, which will be released on May 31 in distribution with 1091 pictures, who are in partnership with Netflix.