*Male director voice* I wanted it to be raw and real. I wanted you to see her at her lowest point. Her most vulnerable. I wanted it to be ugly and uncomfortable.
The scene in question: woman takes off her makeup
I needed to show that she had really gone off the deep end. Her life was effectively over. Everything that tied her to her humanity had died. Nothing would ever be the same. The woman she once was was dead. This scene was, in a sense, her eulogy to her past self.
The scene: woman cuts her own hair