a film by mackenzie breeden

If interested in the full short film, please reach out. We currently are looking for funding for the feature film version slated for 2026. For all inquires, please contact our Manager:
mdipaolo@zerogravitymanagement.com

LOGLINE:

On the run after deserting his post, a Confederate soldier takes shelter in the isolated woodland cabin of two women who now find themselves at his mercy.

VIBE:

The Beguiled // It Comes At Night // Barbarian

GENRE:

Horror // Western

TEAM:

Directed by: Mackenzie Breeden

Written by: Mackenzie Breeden & Riley Scott

Produced by: Ginger Tits Productions

Executive Produced by: Robin Dearden and The Harnisch Foundation

Co-Produced by: Sam Straley & Neema Sadeghi

Cinematography by: Neema Sadeghi

DIRECTORS STATEMENT:

Summer 2022. The summer Roe V. Wade was overturned. The summer we felt hopeless. To take the edge off, we turned to nature documentaries where we found ourselves soothed by the dulcet voice of Sir David Attenborough.

That is, until we watched an episode on mating rituals. Here is what we observed:

Every single male creature seemed to get his fix, knock his mate up, then peace out to find a new place to stick it, while the female was left behind to raise the kids alone. The mother even had to protect the newborns from the father because in many species, the male came back to EAT his children. (Not the pleasant distraction we were hoping for David!) Yet somehow it was comforting to realize that, at the end of the day, we’re just animals too. Humans are part of the animal kingdom. Our species isn’t so different.

But then, the praying mantis appeared. We lost our damn minds watching a female fearlessly court a male only to devour his head mid-coitus. And she did so, not because she felt threatened or vindictive, but simply to survive. She and her offspring require the nutrients from the male or else they’d perish. How unlike our own species - where women give their own lives both metaphorically and sometimes, literally, to birth a new one. How unlike the stories usually told on screen of women who start off weak and must work hard to become powerful. The praying mantis is born with that strength. So we asked ourselves, what would it look like if our world reflected that of the praying mantis? What if a man had to give up his life to birth new life for a change?

Thus PRAYING MANTIS was born. With this film, we aim to flip the power dynamic of modern sexual hierarchy on its head, while also exploring the inequality and lack of choice women in our society face on a daily basis.