Director
Kelsey Egan
Writer
Emma De Wet, Kelsey Egan
Cast
Jessica Alexander, Adrienne Pearce, Hilton Pelser, Anja Taljaard, Brent Vermeulen
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Local Motion Pictures
Join us after the screening on August 16 at 9:05pm EDT for a live Q&A with Director Kelsey Egan, Prodicer Greig Buckle, Writer/Associate Producer Emma Lungiswa de Wet, Actors Anja Taljaard, Jessica Alexander, Brent Vermeulen and Kitty Harris, Production Designer Kerry von Lillienfeld, Cinematographer Justus de Jage Hosted by Heather Buckley
Kelsey Egan’s dystopian fairytale GLASSHOUSE follows in the tradition of films like THE BEGUILED (1971) and Pier-Paolo Pasolini’s TEOREMA (1968) by building mystery around the arrival of a mysterious stranger who infiltrates a sheltered family unit. Mother (Adrienne Pearce) and her three daughters — romantic Bee (Jessica Alexander), sensible Evie (Anja Taljaard), and child of nature Daisy (Kitty Harris) — occupy the titular glass building, which has been completely sealed off to protect its occupants from a dementia-inducing toxin called the Shred that’s poisoning the air outside. On top of their responsibilities, sentry duty and harvesting the extensive crops that keep them alive, the two older sisters must tend to their brother Gabe (Brent Vermeulen), who is unable to care for himself due to past exposure. Fearful of becoming like the lost souls who wander the abyss outside, the family keep a grasp on their past by performing sacred rituals. When Bee breaks the rules and lets an injured stranger (Hilton Pelser) into their midst, the family dynamic is shattered forever, as hidden truths upend the illusions the women have worked so hard to protect.
Sensual and savage, GLASSHOUSE weaves aspects of dystopian science fiction with notes of folk horror and perverse brooding Gothic melodrama, to craft a taught existential tale that ultimately explores the importance of storytelling and memory. Shot entirely on location South Africa’s gorgeous Gqebera (Port Elizabeth), the film is a self-assured feature length debut for director Egan, one that wraps itself in delicate flora and fauna, nursery rhymes, and folk ritual, the outward innocence of which is corrupted by a foreboding air of sex, violence, lies and deceit. – Kat Ellinger
Showings
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