On Monday night I sat down to watch "Murdered by my Boyfriend, and I can tell you that for the first time in a very long time, I genuinely cried.
"Murdered by my Boyfriend" was a one off short drama by BBC three, detailing the horrific story of domestic violence within a relationship which was loosely based of a true story, which makes it all the more horrifying and powerful.
The drama follows the life and death of 17 year old Ashley who is living with her volatile and controlling boyfriend, Reece, who's names were changed at the request of the victims family. What makes "murdered by my boyfriend" so compelling was the screenwriter's, Regina Moriarty, ability to cleverly tackle the myths surrounding domestic violence. Instead of creating an initial volatile relationship between the pair, the audience witnesses these two people fall madly in love with each other, while Ashley talks about her hopes and her dreams to her friends. This charming man sweeps the ambitious Ashley of her feet one night at a party creating an atmosphere that most of the audience can relate to.
The drama also follows the 4 years that these two young lovers were together and within the first few months we see the cracks begin to appear within the relationship. It's not all at once and that's where the drama got clever and to be quite frank, scary. Small pieces at a time the ever charming Reece begins to take control of Ashley's life. It starts when he is dropping her off at her house and as she gets out the car she receives a text message, which Reece reads immediately. He passes the incident off as wanting to "see who his competition is" in a joking manner, but this is just the beginning and the viewers can see the alarm bells ringing at the small hint of controlling behavior.
After just 4 months Ashley finds out that she is pregnant and to me this was the defining moment when Reece finally got Ashley within his grasp. As a 17 year old college student she is worried about her future and being a young mother but Reece begs her to keep the baby, that he envisions them as a beautiful family in the future and promising her everything that she had ever wanted. Stability, love and faithfulness. Just a few months into the pregnancy we see the charming facade of Reece begin to fade as he ignores Ashley as she begs him to listen to her and reassure her that everything is going to be alright, and this is where he abuses Ashley for the first time by cruelly smacking her head against a wall before going back to his weightlifting. At first the stunned Ashley walks out on Reece as he pleads with her to stay, that it will never happen again but she pushes him off and walks out of the house, leaving Reece crying on the doorstep as he watched her leave. And even though the title tells you what ultimately happens, I cannot stop thinking "Keep on walking" as Ashley strides down the street before she turns back to the sobbing man and cradling him as he clutches onto her as she says "How could I leave him now? When everything before this was good".
After the birth of their daughter Jasmine, we witness the mood of their relationship darken. The audience watch as Reece physically and emotionally abuses Ashley, knocking her dreams of motherhood and love whilst also viciously tearing down her self esteem bit by bit. When Ashley wants to go out with her friends he would whisper to their daughter "Is that what mummy's wearing?" making her change into something else that he would approve off and when she was away he would stalk her facebook profile to see what she was getting up to. At this moment Ashley voices over "He made me nothing".
What is the most harrowing part of this hour long drama is that the viewers know that in the end, Ashley will be killed by Reece. We just don't know when and when the scene finally plays out at the end it is brutal and shocking, especially as their daughter witnesses her father beating Ashley before he quickly takes Jasmine back to her room and as she screams "Mummy" over and over the audience witnesses as Reece goes back to his harrowing attack but this time with an ironing board.
What is truly emotional about the drama is that we are witness to the likeable and charming side of Reece as well as his volatile nature. We watch him decorating their daughters bedroom or making cupcakes with Jasmine but then we witness as he savagely beats Ashley at her work in front of customers and at this moment we realize the complexity of the situation for the victims who are tragically involved in these relationships. Despite Ashley's friends begging her to leave him, "If someone did this to you on the street, they'd get locked up", she still struggles to leave him.
In the end "Murdered by my Boyfriend" was one of the most important pieces of television in a long time and I believe it should be seen by everyone, especially the younger generation. It dealt with such a shocking and harrowing topic so cleverly by making the audience relate to the victim and the performances of Ashley and Reece by Georgina Campbell and Royce Pierreson were so brilliant and real, they drew you in.
What is more upsetting is as the closing credits come up on screen the audience is left with this sobering fact:
“It took four years for Ashley to die. In that time, at least 229 other women in Britain were murdered as a result of domestic violence.”
After seeing this drama I do hope that Ashley's story helps to highlight this terrible abuse and spread the message everywhere that this abuse cannot and will not be tolerated. In fact you can still catch "Murdered by my Boyfriend" on BBC iplayer and I encourage as many people to see this drama as soon as possible.
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