The Emerald Circle

While shooting baskets in his driveway, Dave, 14, continues to face the emotional and psychological effects of a violent attack. The trauma occurred with Sandy, Dave's girlfriend, in the Emerald Circle, a secluded, romantic section of an old cemetery surrounded by large pine trees. Dave's mother, Maggie, presses him to retell the incident, which he relives in front of us. But what is the complete story? When pressed, Dave becomes more defensive, trying to deflect his mother's questions, and we begin to see images from that night which he hasn't revealed to his mother. As Dave and his best friend, Chip, go one-on-one in basketball, Dave becomes more and more agitated as images and voices from that night ritualistically break into his consciousness. Often teenagers are depicted as simply alone and misunderstood, but here Chip is intuitively aware enough to understand something of his friend's struggle when Dave takes the emotional risk of asking for Chip's help. With the support of his mother, and especially Chip, Dave struggles with himself and the truth of that night.