Dreadstone: The Beginning
2024 · 20m · Italy
Directed by Riccardo Suriano
Genres: fantasy, horror, western
Tones: contemplative, dark, mythic
In the desolate Old West, a weathered prospector drags his non-verbal autistic daughter across a desert frontier chasing a mysterious purple-glowing crystal — a quest that slides into cosmic dread.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Manifest Destiny meets cosmic horror and the only moral compass is a mute child — someone finally made a Western where the real curse is capitalism.
Riccardo Suriano places a non-verbal autistic daughter as moral witness to a cosmic-horror Western — the casting choice carries the film's ethics, even if 'cursed purple crystal' is genre furniture.
Cosmic horror Western where the moral witness is a non-verbal autistic child and the cursed MacGuffin is a purple crystal — that's an unusual combination, though purple-glowing crystals as cosmic horror reads slightly familiar. 20 minutes to either earn it or not.
Reviews
A touch of cosmic horror, a hint of coming-of-age, and a heaping spoonful of good ole greed make Dreadstone: The Beginning a short film that will stick with you long after the credits roll.