Private Project

AMŒBA

After surviving a brain eating parasite, Levi, a young queer man, is invited to his secondary school crush Roan's house for the weekend. Waking from an intoxicated night of reconnecting, Levi becomes convinced Roan kissed him. As Levi seeks the truth of what happened that night, his grip on reality loosens.

AMŒBA is a story about the destructive power of unrequited love.

(Note: Subtitles are available in the Vimeo link if needed)

  • Ian Fallon
    Writer / Director
  • Thomas Purdy
    Producer
  • Owen Warren
    Key Cast
    "Levi"
  • Jack Mett
    Key Cast
    "Roan"
  • Aoife MacNamara
    Key Cast
    "Morgan"
  • Eoin Gleeson
    Key Cast
    "Brandon"
  • Ailill Martin
    Cinematographer
  • Sthiti Padhy
    Editor
  • Reuben Harvey
    Original Score Composer
  • Ellen McHugh
    Production Designer
  • Lily O'Neill
    Costume Designer
  • Ellie Mulligan
    Hair, Make-up & SFX
  • Liam Prenter Morris
    Sound Recording & Design
  • Kevin Gleeson
    Sound Design & Mix
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Psycho-Sexual, Horror, Queer, LGBTQIA+
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 20 seconds
  • Country of Origin:
    Ireland
  • Country of Filming:
    Ireland
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    ARRI Classic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.66
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - The National Film School at IADT
Director Biography

Ian Fallon is a writer/director from Kildare. He majored in directing and minored in sound design at the National Film School at IADT. Ian is interested in depicting complicated male sexuality and telling personal stories, especially those in the psychological horror genre.

His short documentary 'POULAPHOUCA' premiered at the 67th Cork International Film Festival and won the Best Irish Documentary at the 2023 Story International Student Documentary Festival. Also in 2023, Ian won the Youth Music Video Competition for his music video for 'NIGHTMARES' by Paddy Hanna. For his short film ‘LAST LETTER’, Ian was awarded the Cork International Film Festival Award for Best First Cut Film at the 2021 First Cut Youth Film Festival.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Unrequited infatuation is a universal and unfortunately unavoidable human experience, especially for young queer folk navigating a heteronormative world during their adolescent years. Growing up, I had my fair share of crushes that, whether by nature or by nurture, were doomed to be unreciprocated.

Pulling on these personal experiences to inform AMŒBA, I really wanted to explore that sense of madness that I felt whenever I was suffering from an unrequited infatuation – reading into every moment and interaction, overthinking to no end, frustrated at how unfair it all felt: “Why not?” - The frustration, remorse and hysteria that I associate with unrequited infatuation is summed up perfectly in Levi’s pained two word refusal to accept Roan’s rejection.

As a film, AMŒBA is big, bold and ambitious. All of the craft that went into the film went in supporting this aesthetic, from the experimental edit to the creative sound design to the radiant colour grade. I wanted AMŒBA to be a film you either love or hate, but not something that you can watch and soon forget. Challenging and contentious but still personal and true, something that will stay in your head for all the right or all the wrong reasons, that is what I set out to make, and that is AMŒBA.