Day of Rage, Night of Reason

The senseless tragedy of teenage violence

It's Susanna's 16th birthday and the bright and cheery teen begins her new year on a positive note, with great gifts from her loving parents Nora and Hendrik, and the promise of a party for her friends that evening. If only she had the courage to invite Josh, the dreamy maverick with bad-boy vibes. Definitely, there's an affinity between them, she feels it – in spite of Josh's going out with Linda, the school's hopelessly uncontrollable trouble-maker, a taut bundle of negative energy waiting to explode.

Resentful of the attraction between Susanna and Josh, Linda forces Josh and her best friend Katy into preparing a special birthday surprise for Susanna. She is lured into the attic of Linda's home, which becomes the dark and grimy stage for a nightmare of violence from which Susanna will never awaken…

One year and several devastated lives later, Susanna's mother Nora pays a visit to Linda's parents, trying to understand. But they have long given up on their daughter, who has put them to such shame and made social outcasts of them. Nora also pays a visit to Linda herself, in jail. To Nora's “Why?” Linda can only reply: “She deserved it.” But as Nora leaves, Linda adds: “I'm sorry,” finding deep within her the words that are like a first flickering of hope and consolation in Nora.