This Is Not My Beautiful House

An ordinary-looking man steals into a suburban home through an unlocked door. The house is the site of painful memories for him; is he doomed to relive some past trauma there? Is he there for revenge? Nothing is what it seems in this disorienting psychological drama.

  • Mark Tompkins
    Director
    Warmed-Over Krautrock
  • Mark Tompkins
    Writer
    Warmed-Over Krautrock
  • Meghan Weinstein
    Producer
    The Influencer
  • Carly Miller
    Producer
    Rogue: The Western
  • Brian Rich
    Key Cast
    "The Man"
    Overkill
  • Erika Mugglin
    Key Cast
    "Caitlin"
    Quarantine Leap
  • Jose Infante
    Key Cast
    "Gabe"
    After Divorce
  • Katherine Nathe
    Key Cast
    "Unknown Woman (voice)"
  • Nathaniel Regier
    Director of Photography
    Almighty Zeus
  • David Carlos Valdez
    Editor
    Dr. Death
  • Marissa Vonn
    1st Assistant Director
  • Kat Holm
    1st Assistant Camera
  • Eliana Mullins
    2nd Assistant Camera
  • Maya Baskin
    Key Grip
  • Joshua Wordel
    Gaffer
  • Patrick Shewmaker
    Assistant Editor
  • Patrick Sexton
    Sound Designer
  • John Driscoll
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 8 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 11, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, ARRI Alexa Mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Pasadena International Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 10, 2024
    World Premiere
    Nominee, Best Short Film, Best Actor (Short)
  • Prague Independent Film Festival
    Prague
    Czech Republic
    September 15, 2024
    European Premiere
    Official Selection; Winner, Best Editing
  • Munich New Wave Short Film Festival
    Munich
    Germany
    March 15, 2025
    Online Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Mark Tompkins

Some years back I put in serious time writing my first few screenplays and submitting them to numerous contests. The scripts actually did OK, reaching the quarterfinal rounds of several contests and even clawing their way to a semifinal here and there.

But then a funny thing happened. Over the next couple years, I felt as if I made a breakthrough in my writing — my scripts stopped aping the work of my literary crushes, started moving away from tentpole conventions, and began to develop more of “my” voice (and my circle of readers agreed, the scripts were now more original and truer to me). But suddenly my screenplays started bombing in contests. Not the least bit of recognition. What to do?

At the same time, I had a day job where I worked with undergrad film students. I admired their tireless work ethic and unpretentious, can-do attitude, where they would somehow find a way to secure an impossible location or track down the most elusive prop within a few days. Watching them, I began to appreciate filmmaking as an exercise in problem-solving…hundreds of problems, one after another.

So throwing common sense and my 401K to the winds, I cobbled together a microbudget, enlisted a very talented crew straight out of film school, and made a comedy feature called "Warmed-Over Krautrock." (Like I said, common sense did not factor into any of this.) We had a physically grueling but nonetheless exhilarating 13-day shoot.

Then came a pronounced comedown of several years of post, where I could afford to pay for one thing (like the sound mix), and would then have to work to save up enough money for the next step (color correction), and then repeat the cycle, on and on through VFX, licensing, etc. If there was an upside, it was that I learned virtually every step of filmmaking firsthand.

In early 2020 "Warmed-Over Krautrock" finally had its film festival premiere, three weeks before COVID lockdown. But that screening was enough to land us a sales agent and a distribution deal through Gravitas Ventures, which released the movie on VOD platforms in 2021.

It was a huge relief to have the movie out in the world, even if it was the most low-profile of indies. But what I took away from the experience was…dissatisfaction. I wanted to do it again, and do it better, in a more cohesive workflow. Which got me thinking about making a short film…

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Director Statement

My short film "This Is Not My Beautiful House" arose from a few different ideas. First, I wanted to see, how short could a movie be and still pull the rug out from under the audience?

Second, I had written the voice-over heard in the movie almost as a piece of automatic writing, expressing a man’s deepest insecurities. I had originally thought of it as being borderline satirical, as if we might laugh at this figure. But as I started storyboarding the script, I realized this short character study was becoming more tense, more ominous.

And only when we were shooting it did I see that the story touches on how someone can be so much in the grip of a false narrative that they’re willing to commit violence. And when they discover that false narrative is an illusion, what happens then?

Last but not least, I wanted to make a short with a contained workflow, to keep the initial spark of inspiration and high spirits going from the auditions to the shoot and all the way through post. It was exhilarating to move full speed ahead with so many talented collaborators at every stage of the process.