Céline Roustan

If a film about a woman who spends her days in a garden by a hole doesn’t sound cryptic enough, buckle up for writer/director Casey Friedman’s Pentatarmex Rabitular. With its eerie and mysterious premise, the film actually builds an emotionally poignant narrative that allows each viewer to project what they want onto it. The lush canvas of the garden enhances the enigmatic qualities of the film, adding another layer to its intrigue.

“I want to make movies about people and plants”

“The film is about many things, folklore and botany, care work and the precarity of labor, grief and ritual”, Friedman explained when asked what Pentatarmex Rabitular was about. All those themes mixed together are what creates the mysterious vibe of the film, and despite its very specific setting, there’s an underlying universality that subtly engages the audience. “I want to make movies about people and plants, not the most commercial of topics ”, he added, before explaining that the struggle between one’s own interests and the ability to pay rent is also at the core of the film. The question of “what we’re asked to give up to achieve success” is a driving force throughout the short.

The reaction I had when watching the film for the first time was quite visceral, and that came from the protagonist’s position, facing this choice, and the fact that she believes that she has to make one to begin with. The modern folktale vibe of the film is what makes it so alluring. On the superficial level, we have this unsettling tale but deeper is where the film creates a connection with the audience. The fact that it is enigmatic makes it all the more fun, and allows the film to stick around in our mind to process it all. 

“We shot on an Arri mini with Cooke lenses. I wanted the film to have a dreamy look without being too close to a straight fairy tale” – Director Friedman discussing their approach to filming

Shot in Friedman’s own garden, where he dug the hole himself, DP Pete Quandt (Tuesday Afternoon) frames the short through such an intriguing lens. It feels immersive, almost luring us in, which gives the film such an atmospheric quality. The visual look of the film was paramount since it was the starting point of the project. Friedman shared with us that he started by writing down images that came to his mind, from there he wrote a short folk tale and only afterwards penned the screenplay. Which explains how cryptic the film is, and the gamble of making “the viewer [have] to work for answers”. This choice is undeniably what makes the film so captivating. 

With these type of films, keeping the audience engaged is paramount, as you don’t want the viewer to lose interest. Friedman, who also edited the film, strikes just the right balance between building the mystery and giving the audience enough to chew on. The atmospheric layer of the film – the aforementioned images and the sound design by Micah Garrido – craft a palpable tension that resonates through the screen, leaving us eager to discover what will happen next, both factually and emotionally. 

With Pentatarmex Rabitular having its online premiere on S/W today, Friedman is already working on two new projects. One is an animated feature about a botanist in a ruined world who discovers the location of an arctic seed bank and begins a journey there with his partner, who insists on the futility of trying to save humanity. The other project is a feature titled Don’t Wake Daddy, which follows a gay man on a friend’s trip to the woods of Cape Cod who’s forced to confront a trauma from the past when “his ass awakens a serial killer”.