Status: Festival run
Logline
After her husband slips into a mysterious vegetative state, Giselle hires a charismatic and charming helper though before long, she finds out the horrifying and sinister truth where everything is not as it seems.
Synopsis
GISELLE - a woman in her early fifties - struggles to hold her life together when the unimaginable happens and her devoted husband OMAR - a pioneering scientist - falls inexplicably into a coma. One day, she discovers a caretaking service and before long, TYLER - a young, charismatic and charming porter on her doorstep. After taking some time to entrust Tyler with the responsibility of looking after Omar, she begins to accept him. The time Giselle spends with Tyler also fosters an unspoken connection between them. While cleaning out Omar’s office, Giselle learns of his involvement with a bizarre and secretive cult.
Writers Note
What was fascinating to us about this idea in The After was, here’s someone who is dealing with the burden of living to serve her living-dead husband. We open with her only seeing everything she’s lost, and while looking for help during this dire time; she reveals a hollowness and cruel center to what she thought was a once loving and open bond with her husband. Grief is a prominent through line within The After. By unveiling this secret insidious side to them only shows more of this world she is not responsible for, yet is unable to escape from. The protagonist has to face what comes towards her, she has no choice, and that is reminiscent of the way grief can be perceived. Our inspirations include gritty and dark character dramas, supernatural horror and psychological thrillers. Always writing with these genres in mind, and creating the world apart from them; we believe this process was the most organic and practical way to serve the characters best.
Directors Statement
I have always had a fascination how power can influence people. Cults have had many similarities to how mainstream religions work. They twist and manipulate with power. The feeling of belonging is deeply rooted in all of us which is what certain groups prey on. When we started to write this story, our character Giselle quickly started to come alive. This idea started with that interest but took a turn for the better. It became a story about grief and what it means to let go of loved ones. I myself was surprised with where the story took us but brought me to a place of self reflection and contentment with what this story is meant to be.
