This short film, written by Ewen Glass, is a look of the effects of heroin addiction through the eyes of a child - in this case, of a young girl called Suzie. She lives with her mother (played by Victoria Shalet), who is the heroin addict in question and who ranges from hyper (when showing off a new dress she has acquired to her daughter) to ratty when her daughter asks if they can go out for a trip to the zoo. Intriguingly her mother is coy about undressing in front of her child, presumably to prevent her seeing the needle marks that would be on her body, but despite her efforts Suzie is well aware of her mother's addiction.
Suzie's life ranges from disorder and mess at home to loneliness and isolation at school. She is uncomfortable when asked by her teacher (Henrietta Nelson) to tell the class of something exciting they did in the summer holidays, so goes back to a time when she was happy with her mother - the time she visited the zoo (hense the title). It's no wonder when she heads back home at night (has she stayed out as long as she could to avoid going back home until she has to?) that she notices three unusual characters following her - characters from her imagination. To be honest they are a little bit freaky and creepy looking, but maybe that is the point, as there is no stability at home and no mention of a father about.
Back home, she lets herself in to find her mother with her druggy pals, including Phil (Jason Croot), who frightens her with his mocking, leading her to seek shelter in her room with her imaginary friends. But can her pals be trusted or not? When it goes quiet in the house, Suzie wants to go out and check, but her imaginary friends rather menacingly warn her not to and ask her to stay with them. Despite their odd look, are they moral guardians or something more sinister? And there are just as much dangers inside the house, with her mother's disguarded hypodermic needle lying about.
I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, but it is certainly a potent film about the dangers of drugs and the selfishness of addicts. The young girl playing Suzie (sadly no idea the name of the actress) does a decent job in the lead role, while Shalet is suitably gaunt looking at her irresponsible mother, idling away her life in addiction and neglecting her child to what could be a serious threat to her life. However, it suffers from being too concerned with exemplifying the isolation Suzie is feeling to give much in the way of plot, so it feels as if very little happens in the film. It also suffers somewhat by it's short running time, as if it had to be fitted into a time scale, so little is given to much character developement. Still, it's an important film on the evils that drugs can do, not just in terms of a threat to children's lives, but also on the damage it can do to people and their lives in general. It's also a warning of what can happen if kids are neglected and left to their own devises, and overall it's message is an important one.
