THE WOMB

SYNOPSIS

Sami, a deaf woman, refuses to abandon her fortified home in a deserted suburb, clinging to hope that her missing family will return. Stalked by a terrifying presence that only her cochlear implant can detect, she faces an even greater danger as the military prepares to erase the area.

When two strangers arrive with a plan to destroy the creature, her past trauma resurfaces, and the line between supernatural terror and psychological truth begins to collapse.

“The Womb is a psychological descent wrapped in the skin of a monster movie, a quiet, intense journey about what we forget in order to survive.”

People are talking….

“As layers get revealed, we’re shocked and awed at the story that unfolds.”

“Remarkably impressive performances… this entire ensemble rocks.”

“A strong and gritty film… both internal and external to its story.”

“Hannah Zamora is very impressive as young Sami, a girl with a memory she can’t remember and possibly shouldn’t.”

“… and the door. It’s not just a door. It bangs shut like a mother’s denial… opens like guilt on a Tuesday. “

“The bird scene…. she opens the cage but the bird doesn’t move and I’m like… that’s me, isn’t it?”

Every movie starts with an idea, shaped into a script,
meticulously planned and then forged into a film.  My first three films took this traditional path, necessary in order to schedule cast, crews, locations – you can’t just wing it with so much riding on a film’s ultimate “return on investment.” The Womb was nothing like that. 

It was born out of an event that none of us had ever experienced, a worldwide Pandemic. When your life force is staying busy creatively, it’s tough to be told to stop –move inside – and wait for the threat to pass.

No.

A door with a key slams three times..

I needed to create, to make a movie. But how?  What did I have?  Well, Cami just moved into a big empty rental in a suburban neighborhood straight out of E.T. It had tall ceilings.  Backyard of weeds. An old rotting fence and high tension power lines passing over a field beyond that fence. And an alleyway on one side of the house that felt haunted even in the daytime.  Ok, I have a location. What else did I have…. oh yeah, one very gifted deaf actress:  

CAMI VARELA (co-producer)

“We’re going to make a movie, Cami.” “I’m working.” “You’re gonna be like WALL-I from that Pixar movie.”  “I’m going to play a cute robot?”  “No, you’re going to play SAMI, a woman that might be the last person on Earth.” “So it’s a one woman show?” This went on for a bit and the beginning of the story came into focus: It’s a world in permanent lockdown – a woman in a homemade hazmat suit – buries bodies out back – plants flower seeds on each grave which has turned this ugly garbage strewn hillside into something a bit more … pretty.  

So I wrote the first 10 pages and Cami and I shot it on a rainy day.  Showed it to some actor friends and they showed it to their friends and once they got the courage to step out of their “safe places”, they said – “What’s my role?” 

I sat down and wrote scenes that were just for them, characters they were dying to play. We shot more days with four actors – just one crew person – Me.

Which meant no one could get sick from the invisible monster we were all hiding from. 

(Actors Myron, Martin, Cami, Anzu and Chase at first screening)

It was there all along… hiding.

At the beginning I was writing alone, but suddenly I had a co-writer and that was The World and every time I tried to turn left – The World grabbed me and told me to go right.  I fought it at first but eventually gave in and let the river take me. The movie that finally emerged was far from what I set out to do but was exactly what it needed to be.