Article: The Consequences of Irresponsibility in I'LL TAKE YOUR DEAD

Rule number 6: Responsibility to the responsible.

William has a horrible job: he makes dead bodies disappear. He is also a single father to his daughter, Gloria, a young girl on the edge of puberty. They have a good relationship, but William is oblivious to Gloria’s obvious upcoming changes, his sights focused on their upcoming escape from this life they’re boxed into. It’s those changes that are the catalyst for a lot of what transpires in this story. If William had taken responsibility for educating both himself and Gloria about the changes young women can go through, Gloria wouldn’t have needed to run to Jackie when those changes manifested.

Wait! Who’s Jackie? Jackie was dropped off as a dead body at William and Gloria’s doorstep but who turned out to be not so dead. While Jackie is held as a prisoner of sorts until William can figure out how to lose her, Jackie attempts to ingratiate herself to Gloria, a not entirely unsavvy girl who has grown into her role as the woman of the home; but, when her first period arrives, Jackie is there to comfort and rescue the terrified girl. As the women’s bond intensifies, events are set in motion that endanger them all.

As the end of the story unfolds, William sees that it was his initial lack of responsibility that set the wheels in motion, and he steps up, takes responsibility and does what he must to protect the two women in his care.

Now it’s Jackie’s turn, time for her to accept responsibility for her past, time to accept that not everyone that says “I love you” really means it. She steps up, taking responsibility for Gloria, and for her own new direction in life.

Personal responsibility is a huge theme in this story and while the story doesn’t have a happy ending, it has a truly satisfying conclusion, a thought-provoking finale that I can’t stop thinking about almost three weeks after seeing it. Lack of personal responsibility is a huge character flaw and dangerous. Blaming other people is so easy, letting someone else clean up your mess is almost expected these days; taking responsibility for one’s own actions is rarely fun, but it’s something we, as a society, need to take on head first.

I’LL TAKE YOUR DEAD arrives in U.S. theaters and On Demand everywhere May 3rd, 2019.