The Altruist

Narrative

Jan 1

Director: MATT SMITH
Director of Photography: SARAH WHELDEN

Camera: Arri Alexa Mini
Lenses: Kowa Prominar Anamorphics

A mysterious man and woman are forced to navigate a stark and brutal calculus in hunger, sex, and death when routine facility maintenance veers wildly towards conflict and the instinct for self-preservation.

Grimmfest Writeup: In a rundown building, a man cares for his bedridden invalid wife. Except she's not quite what she seems. A study of control and carer dependency, shot through with uncomfortable, often squirm-inducing body and illness horror, this gradually gives way to something far more extreme, and genuinely nightmarish, all the more so for its elegant period visuals, careful, deliberate pacing, and initial understatement and quietness. It's very rare that our hardened Grimmfest programming team is actually disturbed by a film, but this one haunted us for days afterwards. And if that's not a recommendation, we don't know what is.

Audience Award Winner - Midnight Shorts | Florida Film Festival 2020 (World Premiere)
Best Overall Short | Nightmares Film Fest 2020
Special Jury Mention (Winner) | Grimmfest 2020
Nominated “Best Cinematography” | The British Horror Film Festival 2020