14 DAY TRIAL // “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Keira Knightey is currently the victim in a disturbing domestic violence ad that airs in cinemas and on TV starting today, but is also available online. Part of a campaign from the British organization Women’s Aid, the ad is meant to raise awareness on the many cases of women who suffer from domestic abuse. The actress has volunteered for the campaign, the organization informs.
The ad, which has been branded as “Cut: The Movie,” shows Keira apparently leaving a movie set. As she’s driving in her car, she’s slowly removing her makeup but is otherwise acting normal. It’s when she gets to her deluxe apartment that the viewer first gets a sense that something is truly wrong. A broken mirror and blood on the table and the floor hint that this is, indeed, an ad that will spare nothing to get the message across.
As the boyfriend throws a towel in Keira’s face, she tells him, “We didn’t agree to that, this wasn’t in the script,” staring shocked at the camera. As the camera pans out, the viewer sees that Keira and her abusive boyfriend are on another movie set, but there is no one to yell cut – and the beating goes on and on, with no one to stop it. “Isn’t it time someone called cut?” reads a message on the screen, as another one informs that nearly two women are killed every week at the hands of their abusive partners.
“I wanted to take part in this advert for Women’s Aid because while domestic violence exists in every section of society, we rarely hear about it. We may not think we know someone who has experienced domestic violence, but this does not mean that it is not happening. Domestic violence affects one in four women at some point in their lifetime and kills two women every week. Without the services provided by Women’s Aid, many more women could be at risk of being killed, yet without donations the charity may not exist this time next year. Please donate £2 a month to Women’s Aid to help save lives.” Keira Knightley said of the reasons behind her doing the ad.
Directed by John Wright, the advert was done entirely with volunteers and with props that were donated to the organization. Publicity for the campaign is also done by sponsors, which means that the entire amount of money it manages to raise will go to helping women, because there will be no other costs to cover. For more information on this, see here.