Sweet Mary, Where Did You Go?
2021 · 16m · Australia
Directed by Michael Anthony Kratochvil
Tones: contemplative, dark, surreal
An escaped convict lost in 1803 Australia encounters two immortal time travelers from the future who are on a rites-of-passage journey to vicariously experience mortality, pain, and death — things their evolved civilization has made impossible. Shot anamorphic in remote Australian bush, the film meditates on what it means to be human when you cannot die.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Immortals fetishizing a convict's mortality in the Australian bush — that's the kind of premise inversion that makes me want to throw my script coverage out a window.
Michael Anthony Kratochvil inverts the fear-of-death premise so the immortals fetishize mortality — anamorphic Australian bush as Picnic at Hanging Rock with sci-fi teeth. A genuinely strange high-concept short.
Anamorphic 16-minute period piece where immortals covet the convict's mortality — flipping the fear-of-death premise so cleanly is the rare sci-fi short idea that earns its runtime. The Australian bush setting sells it.
Reviews
Captivating visuals. A distinctly unique storytelling style. Just the right amount of ambiguity in the narrative that left the viewer's imagination reeling.
Festivals
- Monster Fest 2021, Best Australian Short Film
- Terror Molins de Rei Horror Film Festival 2021, Best Short Film
- Trieste Science+Fiction Festival 2021
- Fantastic Fest 2021
- Sitges Film Festival 2021