Hellmouth
From the Archives
•
Drama, Short Films, 11-May-2022
A L.A. couple takes a shortcut down a steep staircase while playing a question-and-answer exercise designed to rekindle intimacy. “Hellmouth,” directed by Gus Reed, is a dramatic vignette that’s vaguely unsettling, almost dream-like in tone, and shouldered by performances from Rhian Rees and Shane Coffey. A pathway they’ve never taken before is the route home for the day, as suggested by the boyfriend of 2 or 3 years (depending on which partner you ask), looking to shake things up. She finds the stairway creepy but hesitantly agrees to walk down them and play the game. As they descend, the questions become more and more focused on death — the final one inquires about the biggest regret should you die tonight — questions that may be better left unanswered. The film explores themes of family and tenuous partnership with ripples of potential doom and a strong central visual component. -KA. Director and writer: Gus Reed. Cast: Rhian Rees, Shane Coffey. Director of Photography: Evan Weidenkeller. Production sound mixer: Michael Coe.
Up Next in From the Archives
-
Bad at Birthdays
Over the course of a long evening, a woman celebrating her birthday gets to know a new friend while navigating her relationship with an old one. Jesse Thurston directs “Bad at Birthdays,” a naturalistic portrait about a group of NYC friends spending the night in Stratford, Connecticut. Told in a ...
-
I am Never Having Kids
A woman receives a phone call regarding her fertility results before a night out. Emma Pillsbury’s “I am Never Having Kids” is a melancholic silhouette that looks at young adulthood in respect to maternity and womanhood. Through a 4:3 frame and discrete points of view, we observe the young woman ...
-
Dead Serious
A mother surprises her adult children with a trip to the cemetery where she wants to be buried. Lizi Latimer and Myriam Schroeter direct “Dead Serious,” a dramatic comedy reckoning with mortality and family ethnicity. The bickering millennial siblings Liv and Matt wait for their mom in the car. W...
