A woman walks through the tangible spaces of her memories, experiencing happiness and heartbreak at once as she revisits the moments in her relationship where trust fell apart in this light-twisting and time-bending short film.
THE FILM
2019 Official Selection - Los Angeles Short Film & Script Festival
2019 Official Selection - The Lift-Off Sessions
MY STORY BEHIND THE STORY
This film is the second in a series of films starring Jake Samson alongside Megan Cochrane. Jake suggested we create a breakup scene and from that I wrote this puzzle box style film that turned out to be a lot more interesting and satisfying than we anticipated.
The foundation of this story is trust. Once trust begins to break down in the relationship between Alice and Tristan, it doesn’t matter whether or not he’s actually cheating or if she is making false accusations. It was very important to me to keep those details vague and stay focused on how these characters feel about each other and how it evolves over time. These moments where she chooses to not believe him are the ones she revisits when their relationship has fallen apart.
The structure of this piece was something created to make this story feel fresh even though many elements have been told before. We opted for the non-linear structure and theatrical lighting effects to create a unique visual feel but the parts still fit together to create a full puzzle that the audience could solve with all the pieces presented like a mystery. It uses structure to heighten melodrama rather than drastic plot elements and reveals as are typical to the genres being used.
Alice and Tristan also are fresh takes on familiar characters. Jake Samson creates a sympathetic and sensitive character who experiences depression and performance anxiety rather than a more traditionally masculine take on the cheating figure. Megan Cochrane guides the audience through each moment as she acts as a sort of detective, taking a more active role rather than reactionary in the narrative.
If you would like to screen this at your film festival, please visit our page on FilmFreeway.