WHO IS DARCINE?
Darcine is not a conventional heroine.
She is an average woman from an average neighborhood. But as her circumstances deteriorate, she must confront the changing world, and her assumptions herself. This role offers an actress the opportunity to portray a woman undergoing profound transformation in social status and self-perception. And this story frequently relies on what only the actress can communicate - without words.
A story addressing subjects rarely explored through women in midlife.
An emotionally complex protagonist at the center of an entire feature.
A transformation in status, behavior, psychology, and self-perception.
Opportunities for both restrained naturalism and intense emotional scenes.
A character who can be flawed, judgmental, sympathetic, vulnerable, and funny.
GENRE & TONE
Dark Comedy / Character-Driven Drama / Social Commentary
We all feel the downward pressure of life in 2026: the economy, politics, the high cost of food, the scarcity of housing. In Darcine’s Year, we explore all these issues through the experiences of one woman as her life crumbles down around her. The drama comes from recognizing how quickly life circumstances can change. The humor comes from the contradictions and the absurdities that we bump up against every day.
My intention is to tell a story that is emotionally honest, unsettling, occasionally funny, and ultimately - very human.
DIRECTOR’S CREATIVE STATEMENT
I have not experienced homelessness, but I know the instinct to judge people who are struggling - the quick story we tell ourselves about “those people.” And I’ve recognized bigotry and prejudice in myself. That realization is a big part of why I want to make Darcine’s Year: to turn that gaze back on us—the housed, the comfortable, the people who assume losing everything only happens to someone fundamentally different.
But this isn’t a pity party, and it’s not a misery parade. Darcine isn’t an issue or a symbol. She could be your coworker, your neighbor, your aunt. She begins as someone who would have judged “the homeless” from a distance, and then becomes one of the people she once looked away from. But her slide down isn’t about weakness. It’s about grief and bad luck, and the social systems that are supposed to help us but often don’t.
At her lowest, Darcine genuinely wants to die. But slowly, she finds a new community, makes new friends, and experiences enough small victories and acts of kindness that she can no longer fully believe her life is worthless.
There’s no miraculous rescue or sentimental ending. No windfall, no savior, no third-act romance. There is a moment when Darcine finally speaks up for herself and someone else. And there is a woman standing alone with no status, no possessions, no safety net - yet she decides to keep going anyway.
My job as a director is to stay on Darcine’s side - even when she can’t - and invite the audience to do the same. That's the journey I want to put on screen: a woman we might once have judged and looked away from, but now see so closely and so intimately that judging her, and people like her, becomes impossible.
-Aaron Goffman, writer/director
CINEMATIC APPROACH
The visual style is naturalistic, intimate, and grounded in real locations.
The film begins with warm, composed suburban imagery that reflects familiarity and stability. But as Darcine’s circumstances deteriorate, the visual language changes. The camera becomes less settled. Familiar surroundings give way to institutional spaces, public housing, urban streets, and nights spent in a car. As Darcine loses control of the world around her, the camera moves in closer to the one place the audience can still search for understanding - her face.
FROM AWARD-WINNING SHORT TO FEATURE FILM
Darcine’s Year is being developed from Darcine’s Day, the award-winning short film written and directed by Aaron Goffman.
The short was selected for the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Foundation Short Film Showcase: Excellence in Filmmaking and received multiple festival awards recognizing its acting, directing, cinematography, writing, and audience impact.
CREATIVE REFERENCE COMPS
The following films provide reference points for the tone, visual language, performances, and social concerns of Darcine’s Year:
Erin Brockovich (2000) — An imperfect female protagonist confronting powerful social systems.
Nomadland (2020) — An intimate portrait of economic vulnerability, dignity, and survival.
Dallas Buyers Club (2013) — A character-driven story built around profound personal transformation.
Moonlight (2016) — Emotionally intimate storytelling in which faces, silences, and visual detail reveal a character's inner life.
AUDIENCE
Darcine’s Year is intended for audiences drawn to emotionally intelligent, character-driven independent cinema.
Art-house and festival audiences, viewers of A24 / Searchlight-type dramas.
People drawn to character-driven stories about grief, class, human resilience, and hope.
Darcine’s Year Feature Film Aaron Goffman