Rob Munday

Have you ever tried to leave an old life behind and reinvent yourself? At some point, we all feel the need for change. For the couple at the heart of Daniel Harroch and Adam Feingold’s short film A House, this meant trading the chaos of city life for the tranquility of the countryside – a transition that, unsurprisingly, doesn’t go as planned.

Following some brief opening credits, we see Alanna and Evan settling into their new rural lifestyle. As they discuss the idea of renting their land to campers, their differing perspectives begin to emerge – Evan is eager to embrace country life, while Alanna seems more reserved and hesitant. This divide becomes even more pronounced with the arrival of an unusual visitor, Zar – a writer who is actually in acquisitions – who comes to pitch his tent on their property.

Alanna spends her time in the countryside taking photographs.

While the premise of A House might sound conventional, the filmmakers’ inventive approach ensures the result is anything but. Through the use of long takes, striking “oxblood” transitions, and an offbeat score, Harroch and Feingold create a mounting sense of unease in a film that masterfully combines parts thriller and parts dark comedy. “By blending a smattering of genre elements, we felt like we got to a pretty compelling and original story”, the directors reveal.

That’s a fitting description, as A House is truly unlike anything we’ve seen lately. As events unfold, the narrative keeps you guessing, with its genre-blurring approach setting you up for the unexpected. While the film never takes a full genre twist, it remains difficult to classify. The humour is uncomfortable, the unease unexplainable – it’s all just so oddly satisfying.

“The film can also be read as a fairytale, ghost story, or neither. It’s open to the interpretation”

A world premiere on SotW today, we’ll leave it to Harroch and Feingold to have the last words on A House: “The film is a kind of dark fable, the moral being: ‘know yourself.’ Alanna and Evan are both ultimately punished for their dishonesty and self-deception. The only person who comes out on top is Zar, because, in a perverse way, he’s the only one among the three characters who behaves in accordance with his needs. The film can also be read as a fairytale, ghost story, or neither. It’s open to the interpretation, which we like.”