Experiencing Interruptions?

PRAYING MANTIS

On the run after abandoning his post, a Confederate soldier takes shelter in the isolated cabin of two women who now find themselves at his mercy.

  • Mack Breeden
    Director
    Horsegirl, Dad's Dead Damnit
  • Mack Breeden
    Writer
    Horsegirl, Dad's Dead Damnit
  • Riley Scott
    Writer
    Love Marks the Spot, Planning on Forever, Living with My Mother's Killer, The Heartbreak Club
  • Mack Breeden
    Producer
    Horsegirl, Dad's Dead Damnit
  • Riley Scott
    Producer
    Love Marks the Spot, Planning on Forever, Living with My Mother's Killer, The Heartbreak Club
  • Ruth Ann Harnisch
    Producer
    Columbus, Lucky, The Five Demands, Arrest the Midwife
  • Jenny Raymond
    Producer
  • Sam Straley
    Key Cast
    "Man"
    The Dropout, Welcome to Flatch, The Kids Are Alright, Hala
  • Mack Breeden
    Key Cast
    "Addy"
    General Hospital, 911, Dad's Dead Damnit
  • Story Slaughter
    Key Cast
    "Milly"
    Flock of Four, Witch Hunt
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Horror, Western
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 4, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • SANTA BARBARA SCREENPLAY AWARD WINNER
    Santa Barbara, CA
    United States
    Best Screenplay
Director Biography - Mack Breeden

Baltimore native, Mack is an LA based filmmaker and photographer. Her previous short film "Dad’s Dead Dammit" was a Sundance Ignite Finalist in 2019, and she just wrapped production on the feature "Horsegirl" which she wrote the story for/produced and was on the 2020 Blacklist. Her photography has been featured in eleven international Vogue Magazines and multiple high-end publications. As a writer and director, Mack tells personal and compelling stories that have an edge of dark comedy with an authentic approach. PRAYING MANTIS, a horror short currently in post-production will hail as her directorial debut. With her writing and producing partner, Riley Scott, she has launched her own production company called Ginger Tits Productions. They have several projects currently in development, of which Mack eagerly awaits as many opportunities to direct as possible. 

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Director Statement

Summer 2022. The summer Roe V. Wade was overturned. The summer we felt hopeless. To take the edge off, we turned to nature documentaries where we found ourselves soothed by the dulcet voice of Sir David Attenborough. The man really is magical.
That is, until we watched an episode on mating rituals. Here is what we observed:

Every single male creature seemed to get his fix, knock his mate up, then peace out to find a new place to stick it, while the female was left behind to raise the kids alone. The mother even had to protect the newborns from the father because in many species, the male came back to EAT his children. (Not the pleasant distraction we were hoping for David!) Yet somehow it was comforting to realize that, at the end of the day, we’re just animals too. Humans are part of the animal kingdom. Our species isn’t so different.

But then, the praying mantis appeared. We lost our damn minds watching a female fearlessly court a male only to devour his head mid-coitus. And she did so, not because she felt threatened or vindictive, but simply to survive. She and her offspring require the nutrients from the male or else they’d perish. How unlike our own species - where women give their own lives both metaphorically and sometimes, literally, to birth a new one. How unlike the stories usually told on screen of women who start off weak and must work hard to become powerful. The praying mantis is born with that strength. So we asked ourselves, what would it look like if our world reflected that of the praying mantis? What if a man had to give up his life to birth new life for a change?

Thus Praying Mantis was born. With this film, we aim to flip the power dynamic of modern sexual hierarchy on its head, while also exploring the inequality and lack of choice women in our society face on a daily basis.