The word incubus comes from the Latin verb incubare, meaning “to lie down upon”. The name lives on in folklore as a male demon who attacks women in their sleep. The story of this demon creature is the backdrop to the startling visceral film, “Incubus”, by writer and director, Tito Fernandes, now streaming on Alter’s YouTube channel. The aftermath of one of the worst situations that can happen, especially to a woman, is told in a deeply immersive way.
There has never been a better time to tell challenging and difficult stories of your own. Consider submitting a script to the next Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
*Please note that the subject matter of this film includes sexual assault and self-harm.
The Plot
A young woman, Mary, is walking down a treelined path, mist all around her. A jogger passes her, and she instinctively pulls away from the trail to avoid him. She heads toward a house barge on the water and climbs to its depths. The interior is just as dim and haunting as the path that brought her to this place.
Mary crumples and throws a piece of paper off to the side as she scrambles to open blister packs of medication and scoops the pills in her mouth. She is frightened of something that lurks just outside of her view. Every creak of the boat heightens her anxiety. By the time Mary goes to bed, her sleep is fitful, drenched in sweat, and every fear inside her is etched on her face.
She suddenly opens her eyes, unable to speak or scream, paralyzed as the darkness surrounds her from all angles. Her arms are outstretched, grabbing and clawing at the bedding beneath her. A spidery monster emerges from the foot of the bed and climbs on top of her. Mary groans in terror. Is she in the grips of a nightmare or is this real?
Mary abruptly awakens in the morning light, the sun streaming in from a window. She lifts her white cotton gown to find bruising on her inner thighs.
Her mum rings her but she doesn’t answer. A time-lapse shows text messages pop up on Mary’s phone. It’s evident that she has been off the grid for a while. Her phone rings again. UNKNOWN CALLER flashes on the screen and then goes to voicemail. She retrieves it. A man’s voice begins by apologizing for something that the viewer is not privy to. Yet. He asks her to reach out to her parents. Everyone is worried. His apology sends her into a frantic rage. The terrible reason for her anger is revealed.
What Lies Underneath
“Incubus” is an exploration of trauma following a sexual assault. The aftermath results in Mary permanently harming herself. One of the final devastating blows of the film is the reveal that the crumpled paper tossed aside earlier was a leaflet with information about a help center. The folklore unfolds with heaviness and dread into reality throughout the runtime. This film illustrates that horror isn’t just make-believe Universal monsters, ghosts, ghouls, and goblins. The real horror is what human beings do to one another and what we could potentially do to ourselves.
There is no dialogue from Mary, and she is the main protagonist. It’s as if she is robbed of her voice. The only ‘voice’ in the film belongs to an unknown caller, the assumed perpetrator of the assault. The soundscape of the film does the talking. The excruciating moans, rips, tears, growls, and every other terrifying noise is an audible proxy for what is a difficult situation to put into words.
What Makes It Killer
Tito Fernandes takes a sensitive subject matter and doesn’t shy away from the pain and desperation it can cause. Horror has always been a platform to push boundaries and illuminate fractures in society. “Night of the Living Dead” and “Get Out” address race and class and “The Invisible Man” (Leigh Whannell version) and “Jennifer’s Body” take a lens to women’s autonomy, just to name a few. Fernandes follows in those same footsteps. Complex subjects sometimes need a bold interpretation and Fernandes does that with this film.
Except for a few seconds of a jogger on the wooded path, “Incubus” has only one person in the entire film – Malou Coindreau who plays Mary. She carries the entire film and gives depth and layers to Mary and her profound journey without saying a word.
“Incubus” is available on the Alter YouTube channel. Watch it below.
Writer & Director: Tito Fernandes
Cast:
Malou Coindreau as Mary
Adam Ford as Jogger/Creature
Emmanuel Berthelot as Unknown Caller
