Anne - Act One: The Orphanage
The narrative commences late at night. A police vehicle arrives and halts next to a large residential dwelling. The driver's side door swings open and a uniformed constable steps out, adjusts his attire, and struts towards the front steps.
A sign on the door states: The Hands Reformatory for Wayward Girls. When his knock goes unanswered, the officer lets himself in. CUT TO:
Within the establishment, the officer proceeds down a dim corridor towards Mr.
Hands' primary office. His reform institution is a state-funded orphanage that, as per state guidelines, is meant to discharge its orphans once they reach adulthood. However, Mr.
Hands has unearthed a much more profitable method to retain them. He has constructed a concealed chamber in the rear of his property where he transfers the girls once they reach maturity. Here, he can keep them engaged to support his other business ventures and no one from the institution ever has to be informed.
However, the officer is aware. That's why he is present. He has been accepting payoffs for numerous years.
When he enters the office, he interrupts Mr. Hands, attired in a smoking jacket, receiving oral sex from one of his girls. The 18-year-old orphan is filthy and scantily clad, positioned on her hands and knees to service the corrupt proprietor.
She doesn't even glace up as Mr. Hands nonchalantly invites the officer to take a seat. 'Apologies, I wasn't anticipating you tonight!' He chuckles.
The officer is accustomed to the man's complete disregard for discretion and tersely requests his monthly envelope. As he leisurely retrieves it from his pocket, Mr. Hands brags to the officer about his business.
He has a new acquisition: an 18-year-old orphan named Anne. The girl was abandoned on his doorstep a while back and grew up in the orphanage. Despite being forsaken, she still clings to the naive hope that her parents will return someday, even wearing a broken necklace left for her by her mother!
Their conversation is interspersed with tightly cropped shots of Anne being escorted to the secret room at the back of the property.
We do not see her face, just her hands clutching a broken heart necklace as she walks apprehensively. The officer interrupts the man and demands his envelope. He doesn't need a heartbreaking tale.
Simply keep the girls discreet and nobody should come around to disturb him. After all, they're all adults, right? And he isn't doing anything inappropriate to them, right!?! The men laugh, as Mr. Hands stands up, dismisses the girl, and hands the envelope to the officer.
He glances inside before tucking it in his pocket and preparing to leave. 'Please tell me one thing, though,' the officer says, chuckling. 'Is this one at least attractive?' Mr.
Hands smirks and says 'The most beautiful one I've ever had. A redhead!'
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Inside the secret room, Anne's face is unveiled for the first time as she sits down on her new cot, still clutching the broken heart necklace. Anne gazes out the window, still clutching her broken heart, as the camera slowly retreats to reveal seven other 18-year-old orphans sharing the same room.
The space resembles more of a sweatshop than an orphanage, with workstations set up at each cot. Mr. Hands has been employing the girls as labor for an illicit business he operates selling used female underwear.
When they aren't producing for him, they work on webcam and other forms of adult entertainment to earn their keep. Free accommodation and meals. plus some extra perks if they get along well with the boss. On this evening, two of the orphans are busy with a cam show while three others rub, remove and package a large pile of underwear.
They've been at it all day and look worn out. Another girl is applying makeup in a cracked mirror, preparing for a special guest that evening, while Sally, a frail girl, lies huddled in her cot trying to get some rest. Her leg braces rest beside her.
Patty, the resident tormentor, bursts into the room with her accomplice, Bonnie. The two orphans have been with Mr. Hands the longest and take pleasure in making the other girls uncomfortable.
Sally is their preferred target. Bonnie seizes her leg braces and mocks her while Patty riles up the other orphans to participate, teasing that it won't be long before Mr. Hands tires of the ordinary girls and desires a turn with the crippled girl.
This is because, each night, he enters the room and cherry-picks a few girls to have sexual intercourse with him in exchange for a work respite. Patty begins to imitate him, moving from girl to girl, groping and kissing them, and offering them favors in exchange for sex as they all.