A couple debates having unprotected car sex late at night.

Director’s Vision for ‘Half-Light’

This film is about young love, naïveté, and the power dynamics in age gap relationships. In making it, I wanted to showcase that even if there are reciprocal feelings, you still may not be on equal footing. While the film is essentially just a vignette focused on a couple’s intimate encounter, I wanted to try and desexualize the space as much as possible. The focus is on their communication, or lack thereof. I chose to make this film a one shot to force the audience to sit with the discomfort in real-time. The additional visual focus on texture or fragments of their bodies is to emphasise the way the main character, Bree, will remember this encounter in the future. When we think back on pivotal moments, it’s the texture and small things that often stick out.

While it’s an inconsequential evening, “Half-Light” showcases a night building towards Bree’s growth. She does not presently have the words to describe what she’s feeling, but it’s a night that she will remember when she does. I am deeply grateful to have been able to work with a cast and crew that was incredibly sensitive and thoughtful about the subject material, and I think that care shines through in the project.