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The magic of changing environments to unlock new perspectives takes center stage in this Fest Track interview regarding "Mallory's Ghost" playing the Narrative Feature Competition section at SXSW Film 2026 in Austin, Texas. Discover how shifting surroundings can peel back layers of complex emotions in a narrative space.

This discussion delves into the film's exploration of human behavior, how past experiences shape our reactions, and the profound impact of perspective and perception on our lives.

Explore the unique tone of the film, blending inspirations from classic cinema and indie rom-coms with creative force Arabella Oz and learn how the creative team crafted a timeless atmosphere that feels both familiar and fresh, making the audience question their own viewpoints.

#MallorysGhost #SXSWFilm #IndieFilm #PsychologyOfFilm
Transcript
00:26This is Tim Wasprick for Fast Trek on CERC TV.
00:29I'm here in Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest Film Festival.
00:33The aspect of environment, how it changes people, but how they see themselves and how
00:38they react to different things.
00:40And that's true of her throughout the film with Louise and in a way with Sam.
00:47Yeah, the environment.
00:50So the characters go from a very kind of chaotic artist's life in New York where Mallory
00:57feels, you know, Mallory, the main character who I also play, she's working a more corporate
01:02job.
01:02She hasn't quite found her passion.
01:05And her boyfriend, Sam, is a quite successful playwright.
01:08He's had a few successes, but he has writer's block at the moment.
01:11And so they go up to Maine where they kind of are taken out of their day-to-day life,
01:16out
01:16of their familiar environment.
01:18And Maine, it takes place on the beautiful coast of the Casco Bay in this very kind of
01:25remote, beautiful old house.
01:27And there, they're kind of allowed to step outside of their day-to-day life and see things
01:34from a different perspective.
01:36And you're right, the movie does that a few times where she is, Mallory is put in a new
01:40environment when she's able to see a different angle of the same issue.
01:44So she sees a different angle of her creative blocks.
01:48She sees a different angle of her relationship with Sam and his relationship with Louise.
01:53And yeah, I think there is something about when you leave a familiar environment, you
01:58see things from a different perspective, obviously, but you also see things, you get to peel back
02:02the layers of maybe a familiar issue.
02:05And that's something I really wanted to do in the movie is peel back the layers of jealousy.
02:09What is jealousy?
02:11Yes.
02:12Deeper, like, and under that and under that and under that until you get to the kind of
02:15the core kernel of what jealousy is ultimately.
02:19Okay.
02:46Oh, you brought up something very good because I minored in psychology.
02:49So, but also when I went to NYU and it's interesting how the idea of human behavior and how we
02:56react
02:56is all a basis of what came before, even that which we were not privy to or understand.
03:03It's all about, as you said, which I thought was really interesting.
03:05And it keyed into me the whole time I was watching the movie is perspective and perception,
03:09how we want to be perceived, but how we see the outside world, sometimes not even when we're
03:15there.
03:15That's what's a great part of it.
03:17Can you talk about perspective and perception and using that almost as a visual motif in
03:23certain ways?
03:25Yeah.
03:25Well, Mallory has the opportunity to witness things that she was not a part of.
03:32Um, and she also has the opportunity to witness herself in a, in a new, in a new way.
03:41And I, I won't say too much about that, but, um, yeah, that is a big, that is a big
03:46part
03:46of the film.
03:47And I, and I think ultimately like what I want people to walk away from, walk away with from
03:51this film is, uh, maybe hopefully a deeper sense of perspective on themselves.
03:57Where if, you know, in the days following the film, they notice that they feel, uh, you
04:03know, a pang of comparison or jealousy or insecurity that they might think, okay, what is the different,
04:10what is a different perspective I could take on this experience in a way that allows me to
04:14transcend something that might be quite familiar and limiting and how I've become accustomed
04:20to experiencing this thing.
04:22Because I think jealousy is a very universal feeling and it can be hard to kind of break
04:27out of it and see it from a different perspective.
04:30What?
04:31What's going on?
04:33Welcome.
04:35Hello.
04:35You're here.
04:37How lovely to see you, Sam.
04:38We didn't know you were here.
04:40The terrified creature over here is Mallory.
04:45Mallory, well, how about that?
04:52Now, as the actor, you know, obviously directing, acting, doing all these things, you know, it's
04:56always interesting because you have to have a duality in a way, uh, even more so in the
05:01duality of who you're playing.
05:03Could you talk about that?
05:05Because tone is usually in the eyes of the director.
05:08Sometimes the actors don't do that, but you're in charge of doing both.
05:11Um, and this helps with the music, but some of the, those, uh, old school, the, the songs
05:17that you guys picked, fantastic.
05:19The score is fantastic.
05:20That all creates a mood and a tone.
05:22Could you talk about that and the importance?
05:25Because it's obviously, uh, it does shift in certain tones from the first half to the
05:29second half.
05:30Yeah.
05:31Yeah.
05:32I think the tone.
05:33So one thing, uh, I'll say two things.
05:36One thing that I learned making this movie is the tone that you can have for a film when
05:42you're writing it is one thing.
05:44And then the tone that you actually, um, have as the result is a combination of, of so many
05:50artists' minds that are a part of it.
05:53So we were all finding the tone together because, you know, as you, as you said, it is, it's
05:58a unique tone.
05:59It's not something that we were replicating.
06:01We were inspired by old cinema, 1940 cinema, 1990s, um, indie rom-coms.
06:11Um, so somewhere in time was very much on my mind when I was watching.
06:15I'm not sure if you've seen that.
06:17I've never seen that.
06:17No, it's, uh, Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour about a guy who falls into the past.
06:22Okay.
06:23I'll have to watch that.
06:24But it's, uh, it was beautiful because this is so timeless.
06:27It feels like even in certain spaces you span time and yet there's such a lived in feeling
06:33about it, you know, and that's hard.
06:35That's almost organic sometimes to capture on set.
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