Scrapper (Regan, 2023)

Scrapper, although simple, holds a lot of charm between the characters, their development throughout the film, and the story. Scrapper is about a twelve-year-old girl, Georgie, who lost her mother to an unknown sickness or condition. Despite her mother’s death, Georgie continues living in her and her mom’s apartment alone. However, unbeknownst to social services she is living under the pretense that her “uncle” is staying with her at the apartment. Georgie carries on each day, takes care of the house, and steals bikes and bike parts for money, until Jason, her father, shows up seemingly unprompted. The two of them navigate this change with several difficulties at first, but over time they begin to understand and rely on each other.

I found Scrapper to be heartwarming even though it deals with issues such as grief, parent loss, single parents, and other societal pressures. I think there is a good balance between touchy subjects, heartwarming scenarios, and comedic bits. One element I particularly enjoyed was the “interview” style format periodically used throughout the film. This works by inserting little videos of individuals around Georgie providing extra information regarding how they feel towards Georgie and what she’s done to them. These “interviews” give Georgie’s character more depth but they also work great for comedic purposes as well.

Another element of Scrapper I particularly enjoy is the approach to grief. Georgie keeps a grief brochure on the fridge and she has conversations with others about where she is in her mourning journey. Georgie processes her feelings by herself, often watching old videos of her mom, keeping the house as her mother kept it, and even escaping into her imagination with a metal scrap tower she has halfway constructed in a room she keeps locked away from others. These methods of dealing with grief display that Georgie is strong for her age, however, her emotional outbursts at certain individuals show that she does need further guidance in her life. To me, Scrapper shows that a single individual can process grief in many different ways with or without a support system, although having a support system clearly helps more. Georgie didn’t want to need Jason but once his presence was gone, she realized how much she actually wanted and needed him around.

However, there are just a few things I would’ve appreciated being explained or explored a little more. The first is Georgie’s tower. Although I understand Georgie’s imaginative escape to help cope and process, I wish Jason and Georgie would’ve discussed it after he snuck into the room. There isn’t much of an explanation for it outside of what viewers piece together in their own minds. Secondly, I wish we learned more about Vicky, Georgie’s mom. We don’t get to see or hear too much about her until the end of the film. I think making the viewers more familiar with Vicky, her condition or illness, and her relationship with Georgie, could’ve added more emotion behind her absence and Georgie’s coping mechanisms and behavior, as she is quite a strong-willed and stubborn young girl.

I believe many individuals would enjoy Scrapper because it has a simple story with imperfect characters and their issues. It isn’t a heavy story despite some of the main themes being loss and grief. I rather found this to be a wonderful story of an unknown connection that makes you want to hear more of their story after it has finished.