Synopsis
Brian is a man in trouble. He loves his new wife dearly... But he's totally convinced his stepdaughter, SARA, wants to kill him. Jobless and injured, Brian is stuck alone at home with SARA while his wife, Lizzie, works to support the family.
And things are getting worse.
Brian must do something about SARA.
About the project
SARA is a bleakly humorous psychological horror story about domestic paranoia, fractured perception, and the instability of trust inside a blended family under emotional and economic strain. It follows a man recovering from injury who is now out of work and who becomes increasingly convinced his teenage stepdaughter is planning to kill him.
Thematically, the film explores quiet adversarial tensions that can exist inside domestic life—particularly within blended families where attachment, authority, and belonging are not fully resolved. It also operates as a metaphor for an encroaching apathy and the ever-growing distrust of one’s neighbor. We’re witnessing various levels of fascist-adjacent behavior at every turn, both online and in real life. And SARA operates as a means to converse with that extreme behavior.
The story is informed by my actual lived proximity to these types of dynamics, love and conflict occupying the same space without resolution. Rather than treating this like an autobiography, the film transforms my experience into an absurdist psychological nightmare: how misperceptions form, how roles become flipped, and how a home can shift from a place of safety into a warzone.
UPDATE: We would like to welcome MOVEMENT HOUSE to SARA. They will be providing endless support on the film as producers. Travis Lee Ratcliff will serve as Producer and Brody Carmichael will function as both Producer and Cinematographer. Movement House is an invaluable addition to the project and are incredible creatives passionate about each project they bring to life. Here is some information about Movement House:
Movement House is an Austin-based collective of filmmakers, editors, photographers, and creatives. Our work has taken us around the world, profiling artists, craftsmen, and telling stories about the power of creativity. We specialize in documentary storytelling, commercials, and music videos. Featured by Tribeca, Short of the Week, Vimeo Staff Picks, Criterion, Nowness, and Sight & Sound Magazine. Grounded by our deep roots in Texas we believe passionately in elevating the emerging wave of independent Texan voices that make up the new generation of filmmakers from our home state.
Thanks to Movement House, SARA will go into production in early December and will shoot in Austin, Texas.
The film is fully storyboarded. The crew is ready. The actors are locked in.
