FANTASIA 2021: Glasshouse
ShowmaxKelsey Egan’s feature directorial debut Glasshouse is simply sublime. Described as a dystopian fairytale, Glasshouse perfectly blends different genres of thriller, science-fiction, and family drama into a neat little bow. It is a film about buried memories, which are always eventually unearthed.
Mother (Adrienne Pearce) and her 4 children are confined to a glass sanctuary. Outside, a chemical neurotoxin permeates the atmosphere, The Shred, which wipes away memories on contact like airborne dementia. Kept safe by their glass walls, the family performs rituals to preserve their memories, they hand-pollinate plants and shoot intruders on sight. But the family remains haunted by the loss of their brother Luca, the prodigal son, still hoping for his long-awaited return. One day, Bee (Jess Alexander), the eldest daughter, brings The Stranger (Hilton Pelser) into their haven, a breach of their rules. Bee insists that The Stranger is Luca, and lost memories finally come to the surface.
Pearce’s Mother is a stern matriarch, presiding over her family and keeping them safe by any means necessary, her guard only slipping with the hope that it is true that her son Luca has returned. Alexander’s Bee is much more idyllic and free-spirited. She was the closest to Luca, as they were twins, even going so far as to expose herself to The Shred to obscure him leaving. Alexander plays Bee brilliantly, rooted in youth and optimism. Brent Vermeulen’s Gabe, the youngest brother, is a grown man but forever remains a child internally due to an exposure accident with The Shred. Vermeulen is a key stand-out in the film, perfectly depicting the pain and confusion Gabe experiences throughout Glasshouse. Then there is Evie, portrayed by Anja Taljaard, the most dutiful to Mother’s rules and the most fearful of forgetfulness, meticulously collecting objects in a memory box, determined to never forget anything. She blames herself for Gabe’s accident, guilt on her face in every scene. Daisy (Kitty Harris) is the family’s youngest, still just a child and totally innocent, always in the present. Hilton Pelser smashes the family apart with his arrival, shifting between friend and foe yet always maintaining an eerie feeling of unease, never sure if he is to be trusted.
Each of the characters in Glasshouse are distinct in their own way but come together as a family. Writer-director Kelsey Egan and co-writer Emma Lungiswa de Wet expertly balance the will for survival with familial devotion. Each character and their differing personalities portray different reactions to The Shred and different approaches to Glasshouse’s themes of memory and oblivion and how it shapes the family, their rituals, and their surroundings. Egan and cinematographer Justus de Jager choose expert camera angles to portray different memories throughout the film. The present has a dreamlike quality, while the distortion reflects the distortion of the characters’ minds. In flashbacks, the camera becomes frantic, as if the characters are struggling to remember events as they truly happened.
Glasshouse’s technical elements also wonderfully convey the film’s themes of memory. Composer Patrick Cannell delivers a timeless yet uneasy score. Production Designer Kerry von Lillienfeld transformed Pearson Conservatory into the family’s home, and along with costume designer Catherine McIntosh, blends fashion and objects from the past and present seamlessly so the audience is never sure of when or where the events of Glasshouse are taking place. Each of these aspects further pushes across the theme of memory and blends the family’s past and present lives.
Glasshouse is a standout: the film is truly brilliant, unique, and perfect in every way.