Filmmaker Statement

In 2020, I became fascinated by the psychology behind tropes we often see in the horror genre. I came to understand that, as many of these stories were written from the cis white male perspective, a lot of what we see as "scary" in these movies is a horrific version of the feminine, the female body, or bodies that do not conform to simply male or female. Though this says a lot about the male psyche, it made me wonder what cinematic fears would look like from other perspectives. I played with the idea of witchcraft-- something that historically was turned into something monstrous due to the cis male narrative, though was a very real practice that was not innately evil. I wanted to tell a more modern story of someone who's witchcraft is very normal and loving, who's fear comes from toxic masculinity, rejection, and internalized sexism or homophobia. More importantly, the arc of overcoming the internalized hate and disgust of oneself or one's body.