Eliza is a contemporary darkly comic drama exploring the
nature of everyday evil through the relationship between
Eliza (40) and her son Benny (15). The story takes place in an
imagined nation ruled by a fascist regime. There is a constant
threat of war, propaganda-fuelled media, and a popular
belief that ‘sticking out’ the hardships of today will lead to
a brighter tomorrow - along with universal nostalgia for
the fashion and music of the 1980s. Despite the hardships,
Eliza is warm, caring, and loved by her colleagues at the
local police station. She prides herself on being ‘good’ and is
devoted to her thoughtful - if troubled - son, Benny, who at
15 still wets the bed. Her deepest hope is that he will become
a ‘decent’ man. So, when she finds out that he has beaten
up a classmate, her world begins to crumble. Has she raised
a monster? It is only after this event that we see Benny’s
perspective - drastically different from his mother’s. Benny
begins to ask questions; not only interrogating the rules of
the world he lives in, but also the true nature of his beloved
mother. When a misfit construction worker from Benny’s
after-school job is brutalised by the police, he begins to
wonder whether his mother was present and what influence
she may have had.