Homes are a funny thing, aren’t they? Naturally when one thinks of them, usually, thoughts harken toward warmth, toward safety. Good memories can leave you feeling nostalgic till old age. As Gaius Plinius Secundus once put it: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS. That place for which you feel the deepest affection. But, as is the case with most things, there comes with it an inverse. Where some might see Home as their whole wide-open world, others see a prison. Safety is replaced with paranoia. Time and resentment acting as jailers, watching you wallow away, trapped. When can I leave?! Will I ever leave?! Just cause the heart may reside there that doesn’t mean it isn’t tainted or primed for corruption. Nowhere, I believe, is this theme more at play and executed with the utmost aplomb than in THIS DARK THOUGHT, a wonderful new horror short, now playing on Alter, brought to us by Kris and Kurtis Theorin.
The story finds A Young Girl home alone at night, forced to care for her infant sibling. In an effort to contend with the infant’s constant wails, The Young Girl busies herself with her telescope, looking out far beyond her trapped station, making notes of the Milky Way all around her. But, when she comes across a dark cloud slowly creeping its way, not just forward but toward her house specifically, The Young Girl is beset by awful violent thoughts. Thoughts of harming the baby.
There are two things that the short strikes you with right off the bat. The first, being the wonderful animation, done exceptionally well by Actuality Films, which while detailed, is also crude and seemingly rushed. Almost the type of doodling you might see on the back of a teenager’s textbook. So right away, just visually, it manages to bring us into this girl’s mindset. Even the way the light shifts and textures almost seem to pop and contort it enough to bring a sense of unease, almost resembling an overthought mind, unable to stop and in constant flux. The second would have to be the film’s barrenness, which might seem like a criticism at first, but in fact, is the furthest thing from it. The lack of any dialogue removes any names, stripping our characters bare. Leaving them, in a sense, revealed. There’s almost a voyeurism to the whole thing, which upon a rewatch, tinge the horror with extreme sadness as these two are seemingly put on display. There’s guilt put on the part of the viewer, having a front-row seat to this girl’s loneliness – a monster chomping at her heels well before the black cloud.
Now the word display is key here. Frames, both figurative and literal give us a clear vision on the themes of loneliness and possible parental neglect. From the few bits of happiness displayed only through old picture frames of a family hung up in the halls, down to the perfect symmetrical frame of the ominous cloud through The Girls telescope. This world is cold. Everything is kept caged and at a distance, so much so that when the baby’s screeching, piercing through, as if right on top of you, or seeing that dark cloud get closer, closeness suddenly becomes so so foreign that the thought of it repels you. As I said before, the film is barren but that’s not a negative but one of the film’s many positives. It strips away any and all facades to hide behind and gives us an honest and raw look at growing up. There’s an insight into the lives of this family, half of whom we don’t even get to meet that’s truly astounding, which speaks to the craft on display here. One not seen, nor heard but felt, and feel means everything as the story all boils down to touch and warmth and holding. The breaking through of boundaries.
What Kris and Kurtis Theorin have managed to capture in just a little over six minutes is quite honestly nothing short of amazing. It’s something also not only for horror fans but really everyone. One that while filled with cosmic horror and may most likely put you on edge, in the end, welcomes you with open arms and a loving embrace. A warm voice telling you it understands. For those whom the story resonates, it’s a short that ultimately brings you home. And even if that home is spoiled or corrupted, there’s always a chance to make it better.
Watch the film below from ALTER’s YouTube channel.
Season 3 announcement dates: Quarterfinalists- February 14th, Semifinalists- February 28th, Top 10 Finalists- March 14th, Top 3 Winners- April 25th
Kris Theorin on Twitter.
Kurtis Theorin on Twitter.
