Monsters, ghosts and demons don’t compare to the horror of losing your identity and the social isolation that comes with old age, and Masha Ko is banking on it.
Ko directed Sundance 2024 short The Looming, a 15-minute horror film about an elderly man named Chester who begins hearing noises in his home, at least what he thinks are noises. For the film, she won a Short Film Special Jury Prize for Directing.
While The Looming’s “creature” was impressive, the scarier part is questioning whether or not you’re watching Chester’s cognitive decline.
Ko, whom Deadline reports recently began working with Range Media Partners, answered our questions about the film and her career.
For those unfamiliar, can you share a bit of your background?
“I’ve made other shorts before, but they were more like art experiments. My first serious short film was called Bona to Vada, which we shot underwater. That one was certainly a challenge, and it was still in an experimental genre. That’s why I say that The Looming is both my first narrative as well as first horror short.
“I’m also an artist, and I make installations with live human bodies. For example, for my Molt Adherence piece, I put my art partner inside of wax. So, I basically made a living wax statue. I enjoy working with different materials as an artist as well as a filmmaker. Embracing new forms, materials, and technology allows me to push, innovate and tell different stories outside of the constraints of each medium.”
One place we certainly saw your innovative work is in The Looming’s creature. Can you tell me a little about how you developed that?
“In the film you don’t see the creature’s face closely, but it’s a silicone mold taken from our actor’s face. And all the creature’s movements in the film were practical. That was important to me because practical effects ground the film. Much like my installations and the live physicality that comes with them, I believe practical effects in this film help create authenticity with the monster and the horror.”
It felt real. It felt like “Oh my God!” when I saw that creature.
“I’m so glad. As mentioned, even the movements are practical. There are certain times where you feel like the creature is moving so fast, and you think: ‘They might have sped that shot up or something.’ But it is all real: The person was, in fact, moving that fast. Alyssa Nicole is an incredible contortionist and dancer that we were lucky to work with.”
I read that the inspiration for the film came from losing your grandfather. Can you tell me how that translated into the film?
“I lost my grandfather during the pandemic. Despite being very loved by his whole family, he ended up passing alone because it was during the peak of COVID. At the same time, his mental state was also rapidly declining, and it all just collided into this unfortunate situation.
“He only spent 10 days alone, and his passing was very unexpected. That made me contemplate bigger issues in our society: My grandfather was alone for 10 days, and we were not allowed to get to him, but there are elderly out there who are alone for years or are abandoned in old peoples’ homes. To me, that is truly horrific. I made this film, partially, to call out the real monsters in life.
“That’s why I wanted to combine horror with drama — to contemplate on how the bigger monsters are the real things in life. I wanted to make the case that, perhaps, it’s better to have a monster with you than to be entirely alone.”
Do you see people connecting with that message when shown the film?
“I think that it’s up to the audience what they take out of the film. Some people told me that this made them think about their families, and not just about their parents or grandparents or the elderly in their life. Rather, it made them think about their sister, their brother, or their kids. That’s the kind of film I intended to make: one that sheds light on the specific subject matter while examining broader social themes like family, love and abandonment. If people come out of this film thinking about their families, then I have done my job.”
I’ve actually experienced memory loss, so dementia, Alzheimer’s or memory loss during old age seem like the scariest things to me.
“Yes, to me as well; there’s nothing scarier than losing your memory or mind because that could happen to anyone. Who are we without our memories? It seems to me like the place out of which our sense of self is born, our identity. So, if you lose your memory, it seems to me like the only place that’s left that can bring you back to yourself are your loved ones. They can remind you who you are. But, what if you don’t have anyone? What then? This is the true horror to me. I’m not sure what the answer is. I guess I’m just hoping to start conversations around these topics.”
Can you tell me how you decided on the title?
“With the title, I wanted to touch upon the essence of aging — what it means generally, what it means when you start forgetting moments, and, ultimately, what it means to lose memories and thereby lose yourself.
“For most of us, aging is inescapable, at least for those of us who are fortunate enough to grow old. To me, it feels like aging is something that looms: something that is so close, slowly creeping up on all of us. But when we get there, and we look back, it feels like life was just a flash. Through the title, I wanted to set the tone about the phenomenon of aging and the isolation that comes with it. Even if you are not abandoned at old age, and you have a wonderful family or community, I believe there’s an inherent loneliness and isolation that comes with aging in general as you begin to depart from society and from who you once were. So, as this phenomena looms on all of our doorsteps, it is important to be kind to one another.”
When I first read about the film, I thought maybe the title was about the creature looming over Chester, but it’s really about him and what’s looming for all of us. I like that a lot.
“Yes, exactly. That’s what I wanted to convey.”
Jospeh Lopez (Chester) does such an amazing job. Can you tell me a little about working with him and what that was like?
“He is a remarkable actor. I met him years prior to the film when I had cast him as an extra in a music video, and I noticed there was something incredibly special in him. In fact, I started writing the script while having him in mind. About a year and a half later, when I was ready to cast the film, I just knew that it was going to be him. Thankfully, it ended up working out so well. During our rehearsals, it was amazing to see how he developed the character. He’s extremely talented and very hard-working, with both of these elements being crucial for authentic performance. It was a total pleasure to work with Joseph.”
It feels like there’s more to tell. There’s more I want to know about this world. Do you have any plans to do anything more with The Looming?
“Yes, I plan to expand the world through a feature-length version I’m writing. It will lean heavier into the psychological horror, and we’ll create a mythology of the monster.”
Read our review of The Looming here.
