Dominant Species
All Films • Drama, Sci-Fi, Short Films, LGBT, 24-Jul-2020
A queer sci-fi about 10 aliens in human host bodies learning how to be men. Joseph Sackett directs “Dominant Species,” a profound and strangely funny exploration of what it means to be a man, and a commentary on social conformity and masculinity as dictated by narrow cultural and biological standards (the men are shown photos of women and instructed: “these are women, you will impregnate them.”) Arriving to Earth as specks of light and entering human bodies, the men are led through a series of exercise by a figureless voice. They learn to stand, speak, fight, dance, and talk to women. The voice refers to them only by number, and insists always that “mother is watching.” The first and foremost directive is for the men to dominate — to this end, they acquire a varied skill-set of physical and mental prowess. But as the training goes on, one man, #10, begins to think and feel things beyond the instructions. Sackett’s film is one of the best shorts of the year, a masterpiece built on a brilliant concept and executed with gorgeous widescreen compositions and impressively non-human performances. -KA. Writer, Director: Joseph Sackett. Cinematographer: Mia Cioffi Henry. Producer: Natalie Eakin. Editor: Prashanth Kamalakanthan. Production Designer: Yu-Hsuan Chen. Costume Designer: Lily PrenticeComposer: Ariel Marx. Cast: Julian Cihi, Will Seefried, Marchánt Davis, Vasile Flutur, Colby Minifie.
Up Next in All Films
-
WYA WYD – Where You At? What You Doin?
A group of young friends in New York City spend their days trying to get by working retail or coffee shop jobs while scheming for easier money or a better apartment. An endearingly shaggy depiction of the lifestyle and attitudes of three city kids. Director, Writer: Joyce Keokham. Starring: Joyce...
-
Storms Named After People
Jess is alone in Tarpon Springs, Florida on Christmas Eve. “Storms Named After People,” directed by Sarah Ballard, is a poetic glimpse into the headspace and disaffection of a young woman skulking around a small tourist town avoiding her father. She tries to delay and defer — instead of returning...
-
An Independent Movie About A Young Ar...
A young artist struggles to make a movie about a young artist who struggles to make a movie. Zenzelé Soa-Clarke directs and stars in “An Independent Movie About a Young Artist,” a meta breakdown on the tropes of slice-of-life indie filmmaking (“mumblecore, character driven, all the shit”), and an...
