McKenzie had a tough upbringing, his mum passed away following her battle against cancer, he also lives in a poorly kept part of town where drug use is the norm. His dad resorted to alcohol following the loss of his wife and as time goes on he's gotten more violent and selfish. McKenzie is 16 years old, very vulnerable and considerably weaker to the other 16 year olds in his area, he is seen as the opposite of many 16 year old boys as the majority of teenage boys don't/haven't experienced domestic abuse. McKenzie has to suffer alone as his he tells anybody his father will find out and McKenzie will have to deal with the consequences.
Before we've seen any characters, we allow the audience to witness what his house looks like from the outside and the surrounding area that McKenzie and Keith live in. We then have some shots of beer bottles and two lines that we presume are ready for Keith. This allows the audience to know what McKenzie has to deal with maybe not on a daily basis but certainly most of the time. This further emphasises that his father isn't a suitable guardian to his son, even before we see any characters.
We give Keith superior power over his son by hiding his face, the hiding of his face throughout the first couple of minuets suggest that he is the abuser and he's the father or guardian to McKenzie. The audience doesn't know at this point of the film that the man abusing the teenage boy is in fact his father. When the audience discover this it'll affect them more as this type of thing is happening to so many people but people just don't recognise or pay enough attention to be able to point it out. By having the father abusing the son it can impact adults just as much as it does when teenagers watch it. By hiding his face it also tells that anybody can abuse/bully anybody without it seeming suspicious.
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