Having recently gone through a divorce and desperate to repair his strained relationship with his son, Wade takes Henry on a camping trip, hoping that a survivalist expedition will help them bond.

But Wade's efforts to connect only push Henry further away. In a misguided attempt to gauge their relationship, Wade stages his own death, hoping to uncover Henry's true feelings.

The drastic stunt only deepens the rift between them, leading to complications that force both father and son to confront their own vulnerabilities.

Wade: The father. A youthful 40. Impulsive and reckless. Each gesture is rooted in a certain desperation or an attempt at proving his value.

Wade will be played by the wonderful Michael Abbott Jr. whose credits include The Death of Dick Long, The Last of Us, The Last Stop In Yuma County, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Bikeriders as well as the upcoming films The Drama (A24), Verity and APPOFENIACS.

Henry: The son. He’s 11 years old. He's patient, withholding and adept at hiding his true feelings (until he’s not…). He and Wade are opposing forces from different worlds.

From ages 8 to 16, my father and I engaged in a kind of "prank war," with him always getting the upper hand. These pranks often involved him faking a serious injury, or near death, and filming my reaction. I fell for them every time, experiencing genuine fear, followed by anger when I realized he was only pretending.

This film is loosely inspired by this dynamic. Only recently did I consider a version of this story where these instances weren't just jokes, but ways of gauging my true feelings toward him. Fortunately for the both of us, I love my father and always responded as he hoped: with fear.

Possum explores the question: What if I hadn’t responded that way?

The character of Wade is a direct result of this question. A tragic figure and extreme distortion of my experience. He's a man who can't stop performing. His pranks aren’t just jokes. They’re attempts at connection, disguised pleas for affirmation. Every joke is a test. Every silence — a threat. I’m interested in relationships that lack a shared sense of ease — where every interaction feels like a performance review. Wade is a father who reads into every pause, every look, as if his worth might vanish if he's not actively proving it.

In his relentless attempts to “teach lessons,” he claims to be helping his son — but really, he’s trying to justify his own existence. There’s something haunting in how certain masculine archetypes equate value with utility, with control, with dominance over uncertainty.

Possum is a story about that haunting, and about how that mindset can deform something as delicate as love.

Writer & Director: Aidan Macaluso is a filmmaker from Fly Creek, New York. He graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2018 with a BFA in Film Production. He’s currently based in Brooklyn, NY. In August 2022, Aidan co-founded Downtime Collective, a film collective that aims to tell stories through simplified, communal filmmaking.

Producer: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz is a Chilean-Serbian filmmaker. He is an alum of the Sundance Institute Labs, the Tribeca Film Institute, and the Ryan Murphy HALF Initiative Program. His award winning debut feature film, Mutt, premiered at the Sundance 2023 Film Festival, had its international premiere at Berlinale 2023, and was the closing night film at the New Directors / New Films Festival in New York City. In 2024, Vuk was nominated as one of 2024’s BAFTA Breakthroughs. 

Cinematographer: Gareth Smit is a Brooklyn-based cinematographer and photographer from South Africa. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Time, with films screening at DOCNYC and Rooftop Films. He recently shot his first feature documentary.

Co-Writer: Patrick Koehle is a writer, filmmaker and co-founder of Downtime Collective. He loves to collaborate with fellow independent filmmakers on projects of all kinds, often wearing multiple hats and bringing a positive DIY attitude to support his peers and help bring their creative visions to life. In 2024, his short film DALE III was officially selected by NoBudge and is available to stream for free on their website.

We've been planning this film for close to a year now and are excited to report that we're very far along into pre-production!

We're fully cast. 90% crew-ed up. Our shooting dates and locations are all locked in. And as far as the creative end of production goes, we are extremely prepared to shoot when the time comes in mid-August. What we need now is your help to bring us through the finish line!

What I'm asking for is an additional $7,000 -- which is about 1/3 of the overall budget -- this is to help pay for cast & crew, lodging, transportation and food.

Seed & Spark requires at least 80% of our goal to be reached in 30 days to receive ANY funds. We are very grateful for every contribution! If you can't contribute but are interested in supporting our film, please follow us on here and share our campaign!