Private Project

Neon Romance

Desperately clinging to hope while searching for answers during the London pandemic lockdown, a young man without a name (Archie Renaux) finds a stranger in his home, claiming she lives there (Razan Nassar).

Unable to discern reality from fantasy and battling with the growing fear that he may be losing his mind, our unnamed hero; guided only by the mysterious voice of his virtual computer-generated personal assistant 'DOC', begins to realise that something very other-worldly is occurring.

  • Arjun Rose
    Director
    SADHBH, Black Swan Theory, Disconnect, Murdah Loves John, Demons Never Die
  • Arjun Rose
    Writer
    Diversity Film (Working Title), Spinback rewrite (Lionsgate US), Demons Never Die, Black Swan Theory, Swift (upcoming feature)
  • Archie Renaux
    Producer
  • Arjun Rose
    Producer
    Demons Never Die
  • Archie Renaux
    Key Cast
    "Tommy"
    Shadow and Bone 'MAL', Golddigger, Morbius, Voyagers
  • Razan Nassar
    Key Cast
    "Harriet"
    Pistol, Get Even, Top Boy
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    fantasy horror, ghost, romance, sci fi, thriller
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 26, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Arjun Rose

Arjun Rose is the founder of The Unseen talent agency and acting school, championing new and diverse talent in the entertainment industry. He is also a Screen International Start of Tomorrow and has worked both in the UK and US as a screenwriter for the likes of Working Title and Lionsgate. His first microbudget feature had a worldwide release and his subsequent short films have featured at festivals around the world. His most previous short film SADHBH won the Ros Hubbard award for acting at The Irish film festival.

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Director Statement

Shot during the pandemic with a skeleton crew of 3 and only the resources we had available, Neon Romance was born out of the strange psychological situation forced upon all of us by the lockdown. Exploring the themes of loneliness and love in the form of a romantic ghost story, many elements of this film were inspired by Stanley Kubrick movies and reimagined in a way that suited the time of lockdown, especially in terms of the HAL-esque virtual assistant DOC. Most of all I hoped to create a film that raised continuous questions throughout, which mirrored the zeuitgeist of the time and hopefully it inspires some conversation in it's conclusion.

In terms of casting it was great for me to be able to work with two young actors who I have been teaching since the beginning of their acting journey. Archie Renaux (Netflix's Shadow & Bone) and Razan Nassar (Danny Boyle's Pistol) .