The Crush

The Crush is an Irish live action short film. The film's runtime is approximately 15 minutes. It was written and directed by first-timer Michael Creagh, and produced by Damon Quinn. The film was shot during Easter 2009 in Skerries, north Dublin. Creagh cast his nine-year-old son Oran in the lead role of the story. The story sees an eight-year-old schoolboy (Oran Creagh) named Ardal Travis fall in love with his teacher, Miss Purdy (Olga Wehrly). However, heartbreak ensues when he finds Miss Purdy with an engagement ring from her boyfriend (Rory Keenan). Devastated and spurned, Ardal challenges Miss Purdy’s fiancé to a duel to the death. Plot Eight-year-old Ardal Travis has a crush on his second grade class teacher, Ms. Purdy, and demonstrates his love by giving her a toy ring. Subsequently, while out shopping with his mother, Ardal sees Ms. Purdy, who happily explains to them that she and her boyfriend Pierce have just become engaged to be married. Pierce appears to be a jerk; he refuses to take Ms. Purdy for lunch to celebrate the hour-old engagement, insisting instead on going home to watch the football. That evening Ardal sees his dad put a gun carefully in the closet, at which he stares contemplating his options. Some days later, Ardal confronts Pierce while Pierce is impatiently waiting for Ms. Purdy outside of the school. Ardal challenges Pierce to a duel to the death, which Pierce mockingly accepts. The next day, Ardal meets Pierce in the school yard. Pierce forgets his gun on purpose and Ardal pulls a gun on him. Pierce at first believes it to be a toy, but Ardal insists it is not. Ms. Purdy attempts to intervene but Ardal refuses to back down. Pierce, by now genuinely concerned for his own safety, becomes irate and is finally reduced to a crying mess, ultimately confessing that he never loved Ms. Purdy but only proposed to her to “shut her up". Ardal shoots the gun, the scene blacks out momentarily, and then returns with Pierce having fallen to the ground, but with eyes open.