Character Relationship Map: Aaaaaaaah!

Characters

• Smith (played by Steve Oram) — protagonist

  Smith is one of the two threatening men who enter the suburban community with Keith. He challenges the existing social order, marks Ryan’s home, sleeps with Denise, and stages a wedding with her. Afte...

• Denise (played by Lucy Honigman) — protagonist

  Denise is a young woman trapped in the dysfunctional household ruled first by Ryan and previously by Jupiter. She comforts Jupiter, rebels with Helen through drinking and shoplifting, sleeps with Smit...

• Ryan (played by Julian Rhind-Tutt) — supporting

  Ryan is the household’s aggressive alpha male when Smith and Keith arrive. He beats Og, controls the home through intimidation, and later allies with Og after helping displace Jupiter. Furious over Sm...

• Keith (played by Tom Meeten) — supporting

  Keith is Smith’s companion and fellow outsider, arriving with him from the woodland clearing. He helps intimidate Og, marks and disrupts Ryan’s party, and humiliates Ryan by placing his testicles on R...

• Carolla (played by Shelley Longworth) — minor

  Carolla is the topless host of the cookery program watched by Denise and Barbara in the household. She demonstrates a meal made from meat, potato, and salt, inspiring Barbara to copy the recipe and te...

• Helen (played by Holli Dempsey) — supporting

  Helen is Denise’s streetwise cousin and partner in a reckless escape from the household. She drinks vodka with Denise, follows her advice for treating an itch, and joins her in shoplifting. After Carl...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Denise → Helen (Family Cousin) — They share a family connection and a rebellious social bond.

  The plot explicitly identifies Helen as Denise's streetwise cousin, and the two meet in the park to drink together.

• Smith → Denise (Romantic Lover) — Their sexual encounter develops into a symbolic union.

  Smith has sex with Denise at the party, and they later perform a wedding ritual in an unoccupied house.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Denise → Carolla (Narrative Television Viewer And Host) — Carolla is a mediated influence within Denise's domestic environment rather than a personal acquaintance.

  Denise watches a cookery program in which Carolla presents a meat, potato, and salt dinner.

• Denise → Ryan (Conflict Household Rival) — Denise openly challenges the established household order represented by Ryan.

  Denise returns from shoplifting and flaunts the stolen money in front of Ryan, while the household is already divided by dominance and sexual conflict...

• Keith → Ryan (Conflict Adversary) — Keith becomes one of the intruders threatening Ryan's authority.

  Keith participates in humiliating Ryan at the party, and Ryan later joins the retaliatory pursuit that ends in a clash with Smith and Keith.

• Smith → Ryan (Conflict Rival) — Their struggle is a direct contest for dominance.

  Smith and Keith disrupt Ryan's party, mark the walls, and photograph Keith's humiliating prank on Ryan. Ryan later goes out to confront them, leading...

• Smith → Keith (Alliance Teammate) — They function as a closely coordinated male partnership throughout the film.

  Smith and Keith arrive together, perform a ritual together, travel into town together, and later confront the household's dominant males as a pair.

Story Analysis

A primitive suburban struggle for dominance briefly becomes a family unit before collapsing into betrayal and murder.

Plot Progression

1. From Wilderness To Suburbia — Smith and Keith leave a woodland clearing and enter a suburban world organized around crude dominance. Denise is introduced inside a dysfunctional household whose domestic routines conceal violent ten...
2. A Household Losing Control — Domestic conflict exposes the collapse of the household's former power structure. Denise withdraws from the escalating violence and seeks refuge with Helen.
3. Crime And Territorial Challenge — Denise and Helen's shoplifting produces money and further disorder. Smith and Keith invade the party, publicly humiliate Ryan, and establish a competing claim to the household.
4. Violent Transfer Of Power — A flashback explains how the former alpha lost control, while the present-day feud turns into a deadly confrontation. Keith dies, Ryan is left crippled, and Smith attempts to take over.
5. False Domestic Peace — Smith repairs the household and creates a brief appearance of family harmony. The apparent resolution is overturned by a final nighttime killing.