SYNOPSIS

On a dark and rainy night Annie, the eldest of three sisters, returns home after dissapearing for a year. Rebecca, the middle sister, meets Annie with suspicion as to why she's come home. Annie frantically pleads to her sister to help her conduct some sort of ritual. A ritual that will put them in direct contact with their youngest sister Katie, who passed away one year ago.

The passing of Katie was traumatic for both Annie and Rebecca, but it was how they handled that trauma that ultimately put them at odds with each other. At the height of her sadness and grief, Annie delved into a strange theory which she developed herself which accuses their mother of killing Katie. This deranged accusation created a deep rift between Annie and Rebecca which led to Annie running away from home. After much begging, Rebecca finally gives in to her sister’s demands in the hope that this ritual will finally bring Annie some sort of closure.

The ritual begins and all the emotions and dispositions between the two sisters are at their peak, creating an extremely uncomfortable atmosphere. After much trial and error Katie finally shows herself, leaving Annie emotionally paralyzed. Though this apparition resembles Katie, Rebecca is not convinced resulting in her putting an end to the seance. This leads us into the climax of the film, where the results of Annie’s choices seal not only her fate but the fate of her family. All in the pursuit of her own sense of closure.

WHY ME/WHY THIS/WHY NOW

This is a film that has been with me for years. At its core, it is a film about death and how death can break a family apart; but at the same time, bring them back together again. My journey with the Sister's Seance began with an event silimar to the central events of the film. The death of a close family member sent me searching for the perfect story to capture all of the emotions my family and I went through during that difficult time. When I came up with the idea for the Sister's Seance, I knew I had to make the characters feel as real and as relatable as possile.

To achive this feeling, I modled each character after members of my family to properly portray the characters in a state of mourning that feels real and relatable to people who have gone through similar expirences. Though there are supernatural elements, the film at heart is a family drama that centers around how these two sisters handle death differently. This film is a personal statement that encompasses all the stages of grief through its characters and story. Now is the time to make this film because in order to properly tell this story, I know as a filmmaker and an person who has experienced death, I've grown to a level of maturity where I am now comfortable in making this film the way it's meant to be.

I am a film student in a growing and changing industry and I feel that this story should be told, especially though the eyes of a young adult. Comnbining both supernatural horror and real human phycological factors in a story requires a lot of self reflection and introsepection that I believe I have come into over the past few year while working on the script. 

FUTURE PLANS

After production wraps, my team and I plan on submitting the film to many film festivals. Screening this film at festivals is important for exposure of not only the film but the filmmakers as well. Festivals help the film reach as many people as possible and generate public interest in the film. With interest in the film and the filmmakers, it makes future projects more possible.