Screening soon at Sundance from director Joanna Fernandez (Seraphim) is a new horror short film: The Things We Keep. The film stars Rebecca Holopter (Silverlake Afternoon) and Jenny O’Hara (Devil).
Synopsis
When Kate (Rebecca Holopter) receives word her estranged mother (Jenny O’Hara) is unable to take care of herself, she reluctantly returns to pack up her mom’s house and send her to a nursing home. Unfortunately, it’s a big task: her mother has been a hoarder for as long as Kate can remember. As she cleans, her mother warns: bad things will happen if you take away my things. Kate battles her mother’s dementia-driven hostility and uncovers disturbing items underneath the detritus.
Specifically: a sinister-looking mold-like mark underneath the wallpaper. As Kate unravels the mystery of her mother’s obsession and illness, she discovers that the hoarding was self-preservation. There is evil in the house’s walls, and they must be covered at all costs. An allegorical tale of intergenerational trauma between mothers and daughters.
Tickets are available here!
Sundance 2025 runs from January 23 – February 2.