Starring: Martha Brown, Morgan Campbell, Odinaka Malachi Ezeokoli, Aubin Wise, Nate Wise

In this bittersweet fairy tale about life at a crossroads, Brynn and her boyfriend Laika take an impromptu road trip in an effort to escape the general malaise and melancholy of their dead-end lives in the city. Arriving at her uncle’s cottage in the mountains, she and Laika settle in, enjoying the solitude in their new surroundings. Evening bonfires in the distance and inexplicable movements in the forest suggest they’re not as alone as they think, and soon their suspicions are confirmed when a mysterious masked character arrives at the cottage – Rue, a strange figure from Brynn’s childhood. Feeling an inexplicable pull towards Rue, she follows her friend deeper into the woods where she’s offered the kind of escape she’s been yearning for. But as her two worlds grow further and further apart, Brynn will have to decide whether to face reality and all its shortcomings or disappear into the darkness entirely.

Shot on a shoestring budget in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this debut feature from Peter Collins Campbell acts as a deconstruction of coming of age stories and a slow cinema take on magic realism.