Alex Peake explores girlhood and sisterhood in this touching animated film

There is something life-affirming about observing the intricacies of other people’s relationships. Sometimes, it’s an extended glance at a stranger’s phone on the train, or popping an AirPod out to catch a little more of a passing argument. But these brief glimpses can often leave us unsatiated, desperate for those dramatic details to transport us right back into our own happiest, loneliest and gut-wrenching moments.

Us Four is an animated short from director Alex Peake that provides such a fill. The eldest of four sisters, in a “big family of loud and lively people, where you can always expect some kind of dance performance to happen after dinner”, Alex found herself set on the creative path from a young age. She fondly remembers retreating to her imagination during school, distractedly painting her nails or fidgeting. It was during a transformational art foundation at Kingston University, under the tutelage of instructors like Matilda Tristram, that the North London native was introduced to the world of animated documentary.

Years later, in the wake of the pandemic and following an intensive directing course at the National Film and Television School, Alex began to think about the sibling dynamics in her life. “My sister Tess had just been offered a place at an American university – meaning she’d spend four years abroad – Darcy was living in Edinburgh, and Katie would soon be off to university herself. It would be the first time we wouldn’t all be living under one roof,” she says. In exploring these feelings, she “felt drawn to exploring themes around sibling dynamics and how these relationships evolve as we all grow up”.

While Alex had always planned to create a depiction of sisterhood, the initial story (penned with screenwriters Anna Moore, Alfie Flewitt, and producer Bethany Cornelius) revolved around fictional sisters. It was recording snapshots of her own sisters – “phone conversations that typically featured a lot of talking over one another, rude conversations or bickering over topics like who is usually the last to help tidy up the dinner table” – that the real idea blossomed. “When I showed the recordings to the rest of the team, it was amazing seeing how connected people felt – particularly those who had siblings,” Alex says.

Armed with a loosely fleshed-out narrative thread, Alex delved headfirst into a podcast-style interview between her and her sisters, accompanied by a lively animated dance sequence. The animation is a 2D rotoscope dance routine performed by the four sisters. “Through this performance and as memories unfold in the audio, you see snippets of our childhood animated in oil pastel,” Alex says. She was inspired by home video of the siblings performing a choreographed dance to Mama Do by Pixie Lott as a Mother’s Day gift for their mum.

Us Four is a tender examination of family dynamics but also explores the complicated nature of shared memories experienced through different perspectives. To visualise this, Alex had the visuals and audio work in tandem: “As the dance continues the conversation shifts, leading the routine to unravel,” she says. “I animated this sequence in charcoal, which allowed me to emphasise the dance falling apart.” The visuals are beautiful but it’s the conviction with which Alex carefully traces recognisable familial rhythms of belonging, trust and disagreement that draws you in.

Throughout the project, Alex invites us to engage with her and her sisters’ dynamic. There’s a lot here about trust and relinquishing control but Alex found that her biggest challenge in making the film was her lack of confidence and absorbing too many outside opinions. Despite this, Alex still hopes that viewers “watch the film and reflect on their own experiences – not just with siblings, but also with old friendships. As we grow up, we change, and so do our relationships – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse”.

Us Four has shown at StopTrick Festival, London Film Festival, London Breeze Film Festival, London International Animation Film Festival and this week is showing at Poitiers Film Festival in France and Animateka in Slovenia.