Sister Wives

Directed by Louisa Connolly-Burnham

2024

Louisa Connolly-Burnham is quickly proving herself to be a versatile Midlands talent, with several short films under her belt that have seen her write, direct and act, as well as projects working with other writers and directors. It’s an impressive body of work, which continues to expand with Sister Wives, now streaming on Channel 4.

It follows two women – Kaidence (Connolly-Burnham) and Galilee (Mia McKenna-Bruce, star of Molly Manning Walker’s excellent How to Have Sex) – who live in a devout, polygamous community. Kaidence has been married to Jeremiah (Michael Fox) for some time at the beginning of the film and is initially resistant to the introduction of the younger second wife Galilee. However, when Jeremiah is called away on a mission, the two ‘sister wives’ develop a relationship that makes them question their teachings.

The film doesn’t deviate too far from the expected story beats, but it is elevated by the strong central performances. Connolly-Burnham maintains a strong outer shell, but her vulnerability is always just under the surface. In contrast to this, McKenna-Bruce seems to be keeping her character’s rebellious nature just about in check.

Then there’s the writing. Despite a run time of just under half an hour, Connolly-Burnham expertly drip feeds information throughout, and does so without Sister Wives ever becoming melodramatic. The revelation that Kaidence was only 14 when she was forced to marry Jeremiah is shocking to the audience but treated as a normal occurrence by the characters because it is a normal part of their world.

It's a rare talent, being able to portray a level of justified anger while also keeping the characters true to their experiences. A lesser writer would have forced more confrontation into Sister Wives, yet Connolly-Burnham gets the same reaction by simply stating the facts.

By showing that these women are forced into marriage early; that they need to hide their mobile phones and literature away; and, most upsettingly, that they except it because it is what they have always known.

If there’s a complaint, it’s that we don’t get enough time with these characters. Necessitated by the short runtime, the endpoint of the relationship between Kaidence and Galilee feels like it jumps a few steps, while the fallout from Jeremiah’s return isn’t given long enough to add catharsis to the ending.

Reading up on the making of the film, I believe Connolly-Burnham is working on a feature length version of the film and it’s an exciting prospect to see this relationship have a little more time to simmer. Until then, this stunning short deserves plenty of attention, and should earmark Connolly-Burnham as a talent to watch.

★★★★½

4.5 / 5

Matthew Tilt

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