Ethan Soo’s new short Swept Under opens with news footage of President Nixon and clips from the civil war in Cambodia.
With discussion around refugees and war support, you get the instant feeling we could be in for something hard-hitting.
We cut to a couple moving into a new home, with one of the couple Cameron, an immigrant from Cambodia getting racially-charged questions from his new neighbour.
Cameron’s moving in present is rug made from survivors of the Cambodian civil war, like he needs more reminders of his chaotic childhood, which saw him adopted by a family in the US.
Being a mysterious object in a horror film, things start to get weird as Cameron suspects some of the materials used for the rug aren’t wool etc.
Swept Under has some surreal imagery and really pushes the boundaries for what, on the surface, felt like a contained idea.
This is a horror short with a message.
Swept Under is now available to view on Alter –
Bloody Flicks 