Mind Games Block (5 films | rehearsal hall)

Affirmation | Directed by Emily Bennett | USA

When mantras, affirmations and wellness culture turns…unwell.
A panicked woman plays her meditation app to calm and ground her in the moment. The comforting affirmations seem to speak directly to her and grow her confidence to complete her grizzly task.
Shot in one single take.

Masks | Directed by Andre LeBlanc | 2024 | USA

A husband slowly draws his wife from a long-standing catatonic state by having her wear a series of old Halloween masks. Driven by the hope of having her back, he pushes the experiment into dangerous territory, sending him towards a final confrontation he’ll soon regret.

SLUSH | Directed by Ashley George | 2024 | USA

Frankie reunites with her toxic community and must tap into her dark side to survive unscathed.

Inheritance | Directed by Anthony Misiano & Tyler A. Wallach | 2024 | USA

Generational trauma drives this grounded psychological horror as a divorced father, mourning the death of his own mother, is haunted by the feeling he’s becoming the one thing he fears most.

BABUSHKA | Directed by Jon James Smith | 2024 | USA, UK, AUS

Through a narrative structured like a BABUSHKA doll, a Detective investigates the gruesome murder of a young child and the missing mother.

As we go inside the story, inside the past, we learn what happened. Annie is a loving but traumatized mother, desperate to protect her young daughter from the horror she experienced as a child herself. Nightmares of her past and terrifying visions cast doubt as to whether Annie is merely haunted by trauma, or something more real.

When they find an old BABUSHKA doll in the attic, the past and evil entities are unleashed as the dolls incarnate. Something at the center is waiting to be unleashed to continue the cycle of trauma.