Maggie May

2020 Official Selection / Etheria Film Night
Directed by Mia’kate Russell
2019| Australia | 14 min.
Horror

Sometimes doing nothing can be the worst move of all.

Director Bio
Mia’kate Russell has written and directed multi award-winning shorts: ‘Auditioning Fanny’ (2012); ‘Swallow’ (2013), ‘Death By Muff’ (2014), and ‘Liz Drives’ (2017). She also has over 15 years industry experience and extends her work as a head of make-up and special effects artist. Credits include: ‘’What If It Works?” (2017); ‘Pawno” (2015); ‘Crawlspace’ (2012); ‘Red Hill’ (2010); ‘Zombieworld’ (2015); ‘Scare Campaign’ (2015), and shorts such as ‘Mrs McCutcheon’ (2017), ‘Emo, the Musical’ (2013); and ‘Yardbird’ (2012).

Director Statement

Maggie May combines what I love: horror with gore, dark comedy, and social commentary. The idea for the film came after looking at current world events and noting people’s responses to them. I really feel that being apathetic to those being badly treated is akin to saying you’re okay with it. Social media is awash with people sharing social awareness campaigns to help those in need. People help strangers, giving what they can. The other side is filled with narcissism, vapidness and selfies by those not being able to see the world past themselves. Maggie May takes these two sides of apathy towards others, and vapid narcissism, and wraps them is a bloody story in a suburban home setting. I’m interested in different types of horror. While monster horror is a personal favourite, and standard horror of ‘bad guy hiding in the shadows’ has its place, there’s something so much scarier in bringing horror into the light. Real is scary.And let’s face it, families can be the scariest moments of a lot of people’s lives. The very real fear not being cared about by others, not being loved or loveable, is at the root of a lot of people’s personal demons. And this is the horror our lead character Sam finds herself in. When she cries for help, for her life and for her babies, and that falls on deaf ears, she’s living the isolated nightmare of many people