Director: John Burr
Writer: John Burr
Stars: Riley Egan, Elle Evans, Kate Mansi
Run Time: 1 Hour, 42 Minutes
Link: https://amzn.to/3gLn6WR
Synopsis
Two guys are fixing a flat tire, and one hears a sound in the woods. He grabs his gun to investigate. He shoots some really skinny guy, who dies on the spot. A woman then stabs him. An artist named Adam wakes up; the preceding bit seems to have been a dream. He draws the woman’s eyes. Credits roll.
Adam goes up to the roof to do a sketch and starts daydreaming. He sees the guy who didn’t die in the pre-credit sequence hiding in the car, only it’s night now, and something finally gets him as well. Adam draws a tree. Hector says he needs to get out of town and find some inspiration. He’s going to a place that will inspire Adam, and he offers to pay Adam pretty well to drive him there. His tattoo looks just like the tree Adam just finished drawing.
Adam bumps into Maria, his neighbor. She invites him to a gallery tonight. He goes but doesn’t really fit in. He meets the gallery owner, who explains that “Every true artist has something to inspire him. Find her-— your muse.” He decides to drive Hector where he wants to go.
It turns out Hector is a drug dealer, who has come out to a house in the country to pick up his product, but it’s not there because the two carriers, who must be real people after all, have not brought him anything. He runs out of the house and the shooting stars. As they drive away, they nearly run over a woman in the road and find the missing guys’ truck, along with the body of one of them. Adam sees the girl standing nearby. Hector shoots at her, and they drive off.
When they get home, Adam starts painting. He paints the girl in the woods, and it looks really good. Minutes later, he finds the real girl standing in his apartment. Could it be that he has finally found — his muse? Will he see her again? Is she everything he’s hoped she would be?
Commentary
This really doesn’t slow down at any point. From the trailers, I was expecting something a lot more slow-paced, but this really has a lot going on. The characters are all distinct and very well thought out, even the less-important characters like the landlord are interesting in their own ways.
We get well over halfway through the story before we learn what this girl is; a creature from Irish legend. That’s when it gets really fun. The climax goes about the way you expect, with the spirit jealous of the live girl. Still, it’s good to the end, and well-acted, written, and directed.