Domestic violence is one of the major issues that women have been fighting against for ages. In many countries, no serious or legal actions are taken against this crime. But cinematographic representation of this problem contributed in the rise of public awareness towards this serious issue.
The echo(2008) is one of many movies that focuses on violence against women. Although it is a horror movie, its major theme is about a woman who is a victim of physical violence.
The movie talks about Bobby who has been recently released from prison then he moves to the same apartment in an old building where his mother died in mysterious circumstances. While he is there, he keeps on hearing strange voices and seeing imaginary people. The persons he sees are next door, it is a family of a wife, her husband and their daughter. The wife is always beaten by her husband and asks for help. Afterwards, he finds out that this apartment has been abandoned for many years and these visions are nothing more than illusions but there is a strange curse that killed some persons in this building.
We find out that the story resides in that this lady one day decided to run away with her daughter from this violent relationship, then her husband gets angry and starts to beat her. She keeps on screaming and knocking all neighbours’ doors reaching out for help but no one answers. Then he kills both his wife and his daughter and shoots himself.
The curse is considered as a revenge because everyone has been careless about this lady. This is an outstanding approach that opens up spectators’ eyes to the seriousness of this situation and encourages them to take positive actions either by calling 911 or at least doing something instead of standing and watching through windows. The reason that many people don’t care is that domestic violence is either considered as a personal case or something normal between couples that only they should take care of.
Finally, this curse is resolved when Bobby hears the woman screaming he opens the door and tells the man to stop. Then she changes her tragic end by brutally beating her husband to death. The director wants to tell us that by little help, care and solidarity we can abolish domestic violence.
The movie reflects the society’s perspective towards this crime represented in this lady’s neighbours’ attitude but at the same time it has an optimistic end because this lady changed her fatal destiny thanks to the intervention of Bobby in the right time which gives us hope that death isn’t the only end for domestic violence. On the other hand, this family is anonymous because it represents the suffering of many women in many places around the globe.
The echo proved that cinema is a strong weapon that can help many battered women to see themselves on screen, stand up courageously and take a serious action against this dangerous situation.