Tribeca Film Festival – Francesca Scorsese manages to pack quite a lot into a 7-minute short. What she presents in Crimson Ties is a  nightmarish coming-of-age trip that’s blood-soaked and gnarly, filled with rich images and striking detail. This is one wild take on womanhood that’s jaw-dropping and deadly.

Carleigh Johnston stars as 10-year-old Elle, who spends the weekend with her sister Jules (Petra McGregor) and about half a dozen of her party-go-lucky friends. The minute Elle enters the house, the women swarm her and joke that it’s time to “pop her cherry.” Then, they instruct Elle on how to knock back shots. When she discovers a strange black pendant upstairs, similar to one her sister and mom also wear, at least judging from a photo, things get really, really weird. Elle starts slaughtering everyone at the party, and the way Scorsese cuts these scenes feels disorienting. They’re juxtaposed with boozing and smoking. The party rages while blood spills. There’s laughing and screaming.

There’s a lot going on with this short. It’s a layered and arresting bit of filmmaking. The ending is ambiguous and doesn’t give a definitive answer about what actually occurred during a single booze-soaked night. But perhaps most alarming is the way these teens treat a 10-year-old, how they force her into this bizarre sort of initiation that’s apparently a normal right of passage for this family and for Jules’ friends. The pendant, meanwhile, carries its own weight. It’s another symbol of womanhood and the blood ties between Jules, Elle, and their mom.

Scorsese has already proved she can act, with HBO’s “We Are Who We Are” to her credit.  Behind the camera, she has a heck of a lot of talent. I suppose it must run in the family. But Crimson Ties is solely her vision, a distinct take on womanhood and disturbing coming-of-age short. Also, who forces a 10-year-old to down a shot? Seriously!

8 Out of 10