WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
The anatomy of a cult. Founded on less-than-truthful principals and so often severely faulty notions of “hope”, “immortality” or “freedom” from the oppressive world around them, those caught up in their wake can find membership doesn’t have its privileges, or otherwise become overwhelmingly whitewashed inside and out by the leader’s empty promises. If the latter has occurred, can there be any real escape or awakening from its hold? For one cult disciple named Chimere (Elizabeth Austin), the forced conditioning mentally and physically she’s endured has made a faithful servant to the movement’s leader, The Prophet (Dan Crisafulli). Having lived in the sect’s compound for a good while, Chimere’s will to resist has been virtually eliminated. At least until now.
Having been “blessed” to be chosen as a motherly figure to the cult’s new “saint”, Selena (Lindsey Whitus), a thirteen year-old girl whose just experienced her first step into womanhood, Chimere’s awareness of exactly what is real and not real around her begins to unravel, as if suddenly jarred into realizing all is not well for either her or Selena. However, even as she continues to nurture and teach the young, beautiful, but glazed-over-eyed adherent while maintain the refresher “training” they’ve both taken which keeps them compliant and complacent, Chimere’s mental state of being keeps deteriorating until the images and occurrences she encounter blur the lines between veracity and fantasy, shining a revealing light on what’s she actually desperate for–human connection.
Next, my Mind:
We’ve heard about them on the news, we’ve read the stories in papers and online, with descriptions that chill you to the core and simply make you shake your head in disbelief and heartbreaking empathy for those who got fooled into believing ideologies twisted and false. These are the elements of revelation and understanding brought forth to elicit exactly the kind of emotional response one would expect when it comes to this 17-minute short film effort from writer/director/editor Kira Bursky, showing at the 2018 Berlin Liberi Film Festival. Directly characterizing the overt brainwashing that seems to so much dominate tales of cult membership and the unwavering devotion their followers end up putting forth, the narrative here lays out an eerie scenario involving one woman’s plight to find a semblance of actual human attachment again in the midst of trying to be the conduit for the organization’s new “saint” to be brought up as needed in order to become whatever warped symbol of light she is supposed to be.
It literally takes one of the perfectly natural processes for the female sex to endure to initiate Chimere’s fall into a confused and ever-building, internally-based anguish that threatens to undo her very sanity and sense of purpose and self, falling into delusions that fit the need she’s seeking, yet none of it real–or is it? Visually the film is a surreal mix of both clearly depicted concepts infused with the hauntingly fantastical and borderline creepy imagery symbolizing her detached state of being, very effectively shot to immerse the viewer into this anguished reality with maximum impact. Add to this the quirky music score from composer Robert Gowan which simply elevates the project’s overall experimental nature and surrealist vision Bursky and company desired to achieve, successfully I might add, with utter conviction. The viewer is meant to fell both inexorably drawn in while likewise experiencing an unsettled sensation as well, given the themes here, and both the visual and musical direction here provide that experience.
Austin offers a wonderfully acted performance in her role as Chimere, a younger woman whose been swallowed up by the enigmatic and charismatic teaching of cult leader, The Prophet. Submissive to a fault for what we assume has been many years and, it also appears, constantly re-indoctrinated into his distorted dogma, Chimere has now found herself at odds with the actualities around her, no longer wanting to be the de facto “mother” to the cult’s new “saint”, perhaps fearing for the girl to fall into the same level of mindless isolation and loss of identity and true relationships with other people committing fully to the cult will bring. Chimere’s besieged mentality and frenzied attempts to free herself from the hold it all has on her is met with what she perceives as success, but still agonizingly so, as visions of her young companion and The Prophet’s ideas for her plague her conscious while she tries to be fulfilled as well. Some viewers might try at first to argue that Austin’s enactment of this character is too stiff or lacking emotional strength, but allowing events to build while also realizing this understated-ness at first is totally apropos for the proceedings, it becomes clear Austin is portraying the puppet of a cult highly effectively and with realistically delivered intensity.
Whitus takes on what this reviewer would certainly call a very mature demeanor for her role as Selena, the cult’s new “saint”, an innocent young girl already brought into a state of mind-numbed capitulation The Prophet desires in order to further mold her into the minion he desires, most likely in more ways than one, which only makes even the notion of what he might have planned sickening and tragic for her. But, she still follows the guidance of Chimere, allowing her to tutor her in the ways of the cult, filling her mind with only that which maintains a recollection of The Prophet’s orations and principals to engage, the effects of which are just more glassy-eyed acceptance, much to Chimere’s dismay and escalating instability. Yet, with the onset of her first period, it brings the onset of the next stage of femininity into Selena’s world, but to what real effect, it’s hard to guess given her almost zombie-like lack of real cognizance of what is transpiring around her. Throughout the film, Selena displays this overt vulnerability and wholesomeness, despite the victimization she is a part of, and it’s Whitus who brings these facets to life with such poise and realism that I felt very much belies the actress’ age.
Primary supporting turns are present here from Crisafulli as The Prophet, the cult’s leader and, we can tell, twisted zealot whose control over people is scary and equally desolate of any real caring other than for the ideas he wants followed to the letter while taking advantage of everyone in his charge and not abiding revolts of any kind from his “apostles”, and Will Burton-Edwards as a young boy named Charlie, who happens upon the cult’s woodland compound and befriends Chimere, much to her resistance at first until she invites him in as it were, which only complicates matters and puts Charlie in a compromising position–but whether it’s actuality or not is the question. Additional appearances are made by Sophia Wagner, Aniya Jordan, Faye Foley, Ben McIntire, Reuben Hauser, Savannah Stone, Cannon Crawford, and Audrey Keelin Walsh. In total, “Period” is a very solidly put together effort from a seriously rising star in Bursky, who’s already garnered plenty of recognition and accolades for her work. It shines a light on the legitimate concern over cults and their dismal influence on people while also providing us a very distinct, individualistic approach to narrative, character-based storytelling, refreshing in this time of rehashes, remakes, reimagining, and cliched filmmaking. Succinctly, this is another win for indie film.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
