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ALONE

A woman's daily commute is thrown into chaos when she finds the city inexplicably abandoned. Alone is a haunting psychological thriller exploring underlying themes of loneliness and the disconnect many of us feel from one another in our modern world. It explores the way that we can feel lonely even when surrounded by others.

  • Shian Denovan
    Director
  • Shian Denovan
    Writer
  • Edward Whelan
    Producer
  • Ramon Ricard
    Producer
  • Lucy Doyle
    Key Cast
    "WOMAN"
  • Project Type:
    Other
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 15, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    16,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Shian Denovan

Shian Denovan is best known for her work as an actress. She plays the lead role in feature film The Whip, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime after it’s recent theatrical release at cinemas across the UK. Television work includes roles in Channel 4’s Murder In The Carpark and ITV’s Autopsy. She has just finished working with Guillermo Del Toro on his adaption of Frankenstein, which is produced by Netflix and due for release later this year.

Awards and nominations she has garnered for acting include Best Actress Nice Film Festival winner, Best Actress Sydney Horror Festival winner, Best Actress Ontario Horror Film Festival nominee, Best Actress The Stage Theatre Awards nominee. She has been interviewed by the Horror Channel about her work within that genre, and given talks at festivals such as Celluloid Screams and Edinburgh Horror Festival.

Shian began her move in to writing and directing when she wrote, produced and directed 'Six Feet Under' as part of Film4 FrightFest's Short Cuts To Hell competition. She then directed the theatre play 'Snap Catch Slam' written by Emma Jowett at the Melbourne Fringe which received 5 star reviews and played to sold out audiences. The play 'Product Testing' which Shian wrote was selected for the London Science Fiction Theatre Festival and she directed 'Come Die With Me' written by Vicki Connerty at The Barons Court Theatre which sold out and was offered and extended run.

She then launched her own film production company, Affecting Films, through which she shot the short film Knock Knock, which was a hit on the festival circuit, screening at multiple festivals all
over the world and picking up nominations, special mentions and awards along the way. Looking to the future she has plans for another short and then hopes to get started on her first feature film as director.

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Director Statement

Alone is a haunting psychological thriller exploring underlying themes of loneliness and the disconnect many of us feel from one another in our modern world. I wanted to explore the way that we can feel lonely even when surrounded by others. How sometimes crowded cities filled with our fellow humans can in fact leave us feeling more isolated than ever.

In the first act we see a crowded London rush hour. The busyness of these earlier scenes heightens the contrast with the stillness and desolation later on. Bodies piled on top of one another, and yet no one interacts or makes eye contact. Everyone is in their own worlds. This disconnect is highlighted at various points during the first act – our lead woman (played by Lucy Doyle - www.imdb.com/name/nm10290759/) blocking out that noisy cityscape full of life with her headphones, the lack of acknowledgement when the two women bump in to one another, everyone's faces being buried in their phones, the fact there is no dialogue and the inaudibility of the words utter by the barista as she takes a contactless payment.

During the second act our woman finds that she is now alone in an empty city. The tight choppy shots of earlier are replaced by wide, long shots and a lot of steadicam work, highlighting the eerily deserted city, beautifully captured by cinematographer Jim Peterson (www.jimpetersen.co.uk/). Think of the opening scenes in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and the empty Times Square in Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky. The creepiness of the situation is emphasised by the personal effects left littering the area. We follow her as she explores this environment looking for someone. Anyone.

The soundscape incorporates unsettling moments of quiet, along with a tension building sound design that makes use disquieting drones inspired by the likes of Alex Garland’s Annihilation. The film has an original sound track created by composer Mel Guérison (www.melguerisonmusic.com/)

The third and final act delivers an unexpected twist and leaves us questioning how alone we really are in those moments when we feel most isolated.