dinosaurs

Five-year-old Morgan's apparently innocuous drawings of dinosaurs are actually steeped in the traumas caused by his monstrous father. The camera slowly tracks across the images, and they gradually lose all semblance of innocence as Morgan, now an adult, describes in voice-over how he and his little brothers were tyrannized. He talks of terrible events, often with a chuckle in his voice as if he is sharing an anecdote. He explains how any movement at home could trigger a violent reaction. Ultimately, while his little brother rebelled, Morgan drew dinosaurs as a reflection on his father’s destructive power and his own desire to strike back. The film uses a variety of visual media – drawings, home movies, found footage and machinima (animations made using computer games) – to convey the imaginary world that gave Morgan the strength to communicate about his personal traumas, then and now.