Mirage

Mirage is a dark comedy. A twisted mix of Goodfellas and Superbad meets the drug filled world of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. We find Johnny Liberatore, a musician and actor, on the cusp of finding his break or being broken. While struggling with his own existential dread, Johnny and his long time friend, Ryan Goldstein, are in the final days before their production company EthosMantra puts on a stage production at the well known Leopold’s Theatre. Against their better judgement they received financial help from Johnny’s Uncle Nick, the head of the mafia in the Brooklyn chapter. When things go sideways with the theatre just a day before they open, Johnny and Ryan go to Johnny’s cousin and “made man”, Tony, for help. Nick catches word of this and a plan ensues. He sends Tony with the boys to take care of the problem. A problem for EthosMantra is a problem for Nick and a problem for Nick is a problem for everyone. When Nick takes care of a problem, the problem is no more. Johnny’s girlfriend, Angela, works in the mayors office as a secretary. Although he is unfaithful to her, she is the one thing that keeps him grounded in life. Though you can see the broken remnants of what is left of their relationship, it still casts a shadow of the love that was once there. Kally, fellow actress and lover, is a muse for Johnny. Driving his art with sex and drugs and the ideologies of freedom, Johnny is drawn to her in more ways than one. Their relationship only leads Johnny deeper down the rabbit hole of his twisted mind. As Johnny struggles and strains to keep Nick happy, get his production on stage, balance his relationships, fight, fuck, and find his own serenity, honesty and happiness — he finds himself promising too many things to too many people and falls to drugs for comfort. He ends up in a psychedelic euphoria and performing music for the first time in years at the bar Kally works at, where he realizes the only time he is happy is when he is on stage. The only time he is honest is when he is on stage. The only time he is himself is when he is on stage. Sex, drugs, art, and crime, family, friends and foes; life is a balancing act after all.