Make Me a Sandwich - Short Film Review

“Make me a sandwich” a short film by Denman Hatch brilliantly portrays the complex issues of stereotypes and domestic abuse but in a subtle which makes the film deserve all the praise that it gets. 

In this short film we are shown the abusive relationship between Marcy and her husband Johnson. The film starts with Johnson (Peter Hodgins) shrieking “Where’s my sandwich?” Which establishes the demanding and disgusting character that he wanted to portray. We can see that he is a very arrogant man who takes advantage of his kind hearted and soft wife Marcy (Anne Sheperd). We then see Marcy racing in holding a sandwich claiming its “just the way he likes it” which almost foreshadows that the sandwiches she’ll make from now on will not be one he likes but she realises after adding disgusting ingredients to each sandwich, each one worse then the last, that he can’t taste the difference and this pushes Marcy to push this and figure out what he can’t taste. From the way that Marcy flips during the short film we can that Johnson has pushed her so far that psychologically she will not be able to return. The genre of the film “psychological thriller” contrasts domestic abuse due to the psychological and long lasting effects that it has on people.

The film takes a dark turn when we see Marcy start pushing further and further and we realise that the issue is more deep rooted then just a bit of pay back which we start to think in the first disgusting sandwich, in which, Marcy puts washing up liquid in the sandwich. As each insult that Johnson makes each sandwich gets more grotesque, for example Johnson says “Which part of sandwich do you not understand?” And this then pushes Marcy further and she decides to put cat faeces in his sandwich. The behaviour we see from Marcy stems when she is alone knitting in a tiny corner which we can only assume is the only space for her. In this situation Marcy is extremely trapped and we can’t blame her for the way she retaliates until it gets to the point where she kills her husband. A study took place into the types of intimate partner homocides committed by women in self-defence/ retaliation and sexual proprietariness, it stated that “Key to their work was women’s increased risk of IPH victimization relative to men.” They reported “117 closed heterosexual IPH cases collected by the Denver Metro DVFRC 1991-2009. As expected, IPHs perpetrated by women against men are frequently motivated by self-defense.” It shows a clear indication that women to often retaliate in abusive relationship whether that is in self-defence or in Marcy’s case retaliation to the way she has been abused by Johnson. 

If we turn our heads to Johnson, his role as a character isn’t that prominent with little screen-time in the film but still manages to take over the film as we really focus on the disgusting and horrible man that his is. A review on the short film by Indie short magazine stated that “make me a sandwich is a popular stereotypical catchphrase used on the internet to ridicule a woman with the underlying statement that women’s rightful place is in the kitchen, in servitude to men.” The film twists this stereotypical phrase “make me a sandwich” and turns it into a psychological thriller dealing with the damaging magnitude of emotional abuse. Johnson’s abusive attitude leads Marcy to feel fear, tiredness and rage, all things that could cause someone to have the psychological issues that Marcy has.

If we look at the structure of “Make me a sandwich” we are first introduced to the inciting incident around thirty seconds into the film when Johnson yells for another sandwich and we see that this is a common occurs. Act two is the longest act taking up most of the film with around a minute and a half, this is confrontation stage where Marcy is taking each disgusting sandwich to the next level slowly and slowly causing psychological damage to herself. Act three is the second longest act spanning around 1 minute, here we see the long lasting damage that Johnson’s abuse has led to. In what is the resolution stage Marcy has completed gone over the edge as she is peacefully knitting in here corner and it is revealed that she has killed Johnson but still giving sandwiches to his decomposed, maggot-ridden body.

Dealing with any complicated issue like domestic abuse is a difficult subject and can always see mice reviews about the way its portrayed, but I believe that Hatch managed to depict their relationship and psychological issues in a disgustingly gripping way. We see the long-lasting effects on Marcy with the phrase “make me a sandwich” still mocking her even when she is free from Johnson’s controlling ways. 

References:

Indie Short Mag Team. (2020) Make Me A Sandwich: The Psychological Horror of the Catchphrase. Online. Indie Short Mag.

[Accessed on 23/10/2021]

Joanne Belknap. (2012). Types of Intimate Partner Homicides Committed by Women. Online. Sage Journals.

[Accessed on 23/10/2021]