Waking

"Waking" is a film about the destabilizing nature of trauma and how it impacts our ability to discern memory from paranoia from truth.

This experimental relationship thriller takes place entirely inside a hotel room. What exists outside the room, if anything at all, is never the focus of our experience, rather like trauma it is the notion of being trapped inside, of not knowing, that claustrophobic noose of mistrust and menace ever-tightening that informs the progression. In this sense the room is a wound, a traumatic psychological injury, an irreplaceable loss and the characters are stuck inside it so deeply that they don’t even realize. That is why the room is red. That is why the tones are so fleshy and viscous. Because it is meant to emulate this. The escaping plasma of a fresh cut, the inflamed edges of split skin, the dull yellow peripheries of a deep bruise. The room, the look, the tone, the pervasive sense of dread, are all indicative of of this underlying rupture, something sore and fresh and violent.

In many senses the film is a response to the world around me right now. Who is telling me the truth? Is there a clear and defined morality, or has the complexity of modern existence become so overwhelming, so encompassing that all I can do is cling to my personal subjectivity in order to survive? There is constant sense in Lynn that something is wrong. There is constant sense in Anthony that there is something to hide. This feels like everything I see. From the news. To social media. To the opinions of my friends. There is a thread of uncertainty and complexity woven through the fabric of almost interaction lately that I often feel at once gaslit, and suffocated and in desperate need of escape.

I hope some of these sentiments register. It was central to the direction of the performances and very much a a part of the exquisite score by Savannah. Fiona and Kyle are fantastic. I think they really delivered on the tension and the depth. I am proud of not only the actor’s incredible giving but also for Alexander, Brian, Mel, Frankie and the rest of the crew's absolute professionalism in spite of the long days and such scant resources. This was my first time shooting a film in Los Angeles and I found the experience incredibly rewarding.