‘In the Silence’ gives a voice to the unspoken cost of PTSD in Black British soldiers

The short film shows the brutal reality of how isolating PTSD can be for spouses of its sufferers. 

Source: Grace Films

The story is about a young British woman, Maria, who puts her life and career on hold when her partner, Eric, returns from war riddled by visions of his time in Afghanistan. The perfect relationship they had when he left no longer exists. The couple tries to find a way forward to salvage their union.

The film is written by James Austin McCormick and Annabel Grace who also produced and starred in the short. It’s directed by British-Jamaican Ethosheia Hylton.

The film opens with Maria and Eric (Benjamin Sarpong-Broni) in the midst of a playful pillow fight as he solicits a verbal profession of love from her. That soft moment snaps away without an inclination of a trigger when they get out of bed. Eric stops in his tracks and we get a first look at how his PTSD manifests itself.

What’s apparent throughout In the Silence is that, even in countries with resources to support mental health issues, the Black community isn’t always served for reasons of cultural stigma, fear, and the sometimes impersonal nature of how resources are presented. 

The focused exploration of this couple’s relationship brings to the fore the immense pressure placed on support systems of embattled veterans. The average person doesn't have the range of skills needed to understand or practically navigate the full spectrum of how PTSD can change the way someone moves through their day. So, when someone experiencing it doesn't have the right professional support, it can be truly difficult for them and their family or friends. 

In an interview with The British Blacklist, Grace talks about the likelihood of PTSD going undiagnosed in Black communities, “In regard to working-class areas, it is easier to be ignored or passed by, so people are more likely to feel they don’t matter or aren’t being represented within the conversation. In this situation, it’s often much harder to open up about your trauma. There is still a strong lack of trust towards services because of how black people have been mistreated. It would also be remiss to not mention the obvious that racism can be a factor.”

The ongoing Windrush scandal and the recent reactions by the UK government to the Race and Ethnic Disparities report brings into question how many Black men and women who fight for the only country they can call home are simply left to fend for themselves when they return because the system isn’t built to accommodate their specific circumstances?

And how deeply does their suffering run? As an observer, it’s so easy to look at Eric’s actions and just see anger. We could even go so far as to say, if we removed the PTSD element, it would be easy to label their relationship as abusive.  

The message, though, is that while Maria is making huge personal sacrifices to support her partner, they’re both embarking on a brave journey to try to move their relationship forward with some normalcy. The stakes and the potential costs are high – as ‘life or death’ as war itself.

‘In the Silence’ was screened at the 2021 Conch Shell International Film Festival and is available for streaming on Kweli TV.