A father and his terminally ill son go tracking into the heart of the forest in search for a magical healing bird.

Director’s Statement

Over time, SOLUS became an atmospheric story that gives voice to the subconscious. It focuses on a complex father (Carter), who takes his seven year old son (Wyatt), who suffers from terminal chronic illness,
into the heart of a forest in search of a magical healing bird. Ideally, the film is about one man’s inability to accept inevitable loss. The delusion of immortality creates in him a visceral fragility. He struggles to accept and let go.

When I was writing SOLUS I always felt it was being written by someone else, or a greater force. I realized that the journey I had thrown myself into was largely subconscious, built on memories, how we perceive those memories, and more importantly, how we react to our memories as human beings. The concept of us being extremely fragile creatures, extremely sad ones at that, fascinated me. Seeing a man torture himself through pain, sadness and obsession all due to the delusion of hope is a slow brutal car crash that we can’t take our eyes off. It’s utterly captivating. As the story revealed itself, the myth of the magical bird reveals itself as the myth of hope. It’s a myth we are forced to create to protect us from showing vulnerability. Strangely enough, this is an alluring and beautiful notion. I once read a quote from Andrei Tarkovsky: “I felt all the time that for the film to be a success the texture of the scenery and the landscapes must fill me with definite memories and poetic associations”

I knew from my own personal self discovery as a storyteller that this concept is something I have come to dearly love and incorporate into the way I create cinema. To tell a story cinematically and visually, but also poetically. I have always wanted to create an atmospheric, inviting, and hypnotic experience for audiences. To show everything plainly yet beautifully. Put simply, I believe this makes the experience visceral and real. It allows a connection with the journey. As a filmmaker I will continue to grow, and to explore my love
of poetic storytelling.