“Tom’s Dilemma” (excerpt from feature) Credits

“Tom’s Dilemma” (excerpt from feature)

TOM’S DILEMMA is the story of a Tom Richardson, a man who struggles daily with his addiction to cowardice and complacency.
The film begins moments after Tom’s son, Andrew, is molested by his piano teacher.
When Tom learns of this, he decides to take matters into his own hands – telling no one, and advocating that his son do the same.
The problem with Tom, though, is that he fears more than he chances. He begins a journey that traps him in his own mind and makes him feel stuck in a world he has
long desired to escape. Not exactly a relationship expert, his care for those around him – his girlfriend, his father, even his son – dwindles as Andrew’s struggle becomes his own – not as an empathic one but, rather, a narcissistic one. In his mind, the damage that has been done has been done to him and that this is a blow to his own ego, psyche and manhood.
Tom embarks on a path of exacting revenge on the man who hurt him. This revenge fantasy further exploits his cowardice, as he continues to cross paths with the molester and does nothing. In his mind, revenge is sweet and satisfying. In reality, he can’t even hold a knife without cutting himself.
He blindly navigates his way through this dark world, confronting the piano teacher’s wife – attempting to enlist her help to entrap her husband. But his desperate search for vengeance yields little satisfaction. Although Tom is self-centered, his ego stopped feeding him a long time ago. His inability to find pleasure in anything he does makes him feel stuck. Those around him don’t fare much better: his girlfriend keeps coming back to a broken man; the piano teacher’s wife continues to hide her husband’s secret; the piano teacher continues to abuse his young clients.
Nothing changes and complacency has its way with them all.
TOM’S DILEMMA is a film that addresses our own need for vengeance and the frustration we face when we are unable to fulfill that fantasy. In Tom’s case, the notion not only becomes a source of frustration, but of emasculation and madnes.