Until Walls Are Doors is a gripping short film, set in a dystopian world about a young couple trapped in a relationship where control and misogyny are disguised as daily rituals, through online indoctrination, insecurity, and above all, ignorance.

Short synopsis:
Fiene lives in a tightly controlled reality where her partner, Jack, dictates her every action: when she eats, moves, and remains silent. While Jack feeds on online masculinity influencers and sees himself as a leader and owner, Fiene is increasingly reduced to an object. In parallel images, we see how Jack once bought her in a surreal shoe store, where women are presented as products with character traits. Fiene is forbidden to speak; her voice exists only in her inner world. When her obedience breaks, she chooses a radical act that permanently disrupts the power dynamic.

Project description:
Until Walls Are Doors is an artistic, symbolic short film that focuses on the psychological dynamics of control within a relationship. The film explores how contemporary online masculinity culture, inspired by extras like Andrew Tate, seeps into private life and transforms into a system of power, ownership, and dehumanization.

The film is largely experienced through the eyes of Fiene, a young woman who is physically present but is repeatedly reduced to function and obedience. Her presence is defined by actions, repetition, and silence, while her surroundings, and especially her partner Jack, fill the space with beliefs, rules, and structure. Jack believes in a traditional, hierarchical worldview in which women are expected to follow and men to dominate. His behavior is seemingly calm and rational, yet imbued with menace.

In a parallel, surreal storyline, we see Jack and his friend Spencer in a shoe store where women are presented as products labeled "obedient" and "quirky." These scenes serve as a moral mirror and the origin of the system Fiene finds herself in.

The film balances between realism and absurdism, with room for dark humor and poetic illumination, but doesn't shy away from the rawness of its subject matter. Until Walls Are Doors is not an indictment with answers, but a film that compels the audience to look, to feel, to take a stand, and to understand that oppression doesn't begin with violence, but with disinterest.

What do we offer?
Normally, I work in the production and advertising department. After studying Animation & Audiovisual Design, I started freelance filmmaking, working on high-end commercials for production companies like DPPLR, Pink Rabbit, Studio Studio, and others. I also work on music videos, visuals for S10 & Froukje, short films, and feature films. After a feature film with DPPLR, they asked me to stay, which I did briefly, but then I started to feel the urge to create my own work again.

The crew consists of so many wonderful people who want to help me, and who I work with every day. It currently looks like this:
Directed by Sanne ten Broeke
Director ass - Iniyavan Elumalai
DOP - Nino Kennis
1st AD - Sem Grefkens
Art - Floor van der Krool
Sound - Johan Rompelberg
Set producer - Renée Meijer
Sound design - Gido Rikken

I think it would be fantastic to dive into a playground with them all and explore how we can eliminate ignorance. To do this in our own way, we're financing this production ourselves. Therefore, financial compensation is unfortunately not possible, but all expenses will of course be covered!

Type
professionele productie / lowbudget

Location
Almere

Description
We are looking for two male actors for the roles of Jack & Spencer.

Jack (lead role):
Jack, like everyone else, is insecure. How do you survive in a world of chaos, speed, and achievement? The answer came when he discovered Andrew Tate. Someone who gave him direction, who sketched a world that was logical, orderly, and hierarchical. Jack grew up with kind parents, but precisely when he needed support, they weren't there. Jack consciously chose Spencer as his friend. This is important for the story, as we don't hide him away as if he had no other choice, or grew up in this culture, but rather in a world where we see men's feelings as something weak and feminine. He never really had a language for his feelings. The red pill community gave him words for those feelings, for his insecurities, and how he can transform them into ambition, status, and his "role as a man." He fills a void he doesn't understand with rules that aren't his. He's completely indoctrinated by the manosphere and moves like them: how they talk, how they sit, how their hands are clasped, how they try to appear calm, how they appear confident. But Jack doesn't know what he wants. He fills his insecurity with distrust and power, to gain a sense of recognition.

Spencer (supporting role):
Spencer is the first friend Jack has made since joining the red pill community. Spencer is essentially his real-life version of Andrew Tate. He never doubts. Not because he's sure of himself, but because he's never learned that doubt is allowed. He grew up in a world where men work and women disappear. Not out of cruelty, but out of habit. A habit he passes on mindlessly, as if it were information from a manual. For him, hierarchy isn't a choice; it's order. Spencer has charisma without charm: a natural presence that draws people to him. Jack too. For Jack, Spencer is a guide, just as Andrew Tate is. For Spencer, Jack is primarily soft clay: malleable, easily guided, easily convinced. He's not malicious, but never truly warm either. He believes in his worldview because it gives him comfort. He doesn't have to let go of anything, explore anything, feel anything. What makes Spencer dangerous is that he's completely convinced he's right, without realizing the impact his beliefs have on others. He will never change. In his eyes this is not necessary, the world bends to him.

Language requirements
The Netherlands

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