Starry Eyes is showing as part of the Belfast Film Festival ‘Altered States & Twisted Cornea’ selection this year on the 22nd April, tickets and more info from here.
A horrifying and shocking tale of desperate ambition in the city of dreams. Aspiring actress Sarah (Alexandra Essoe) spends her days chasing her dream of Hollywood stardom. After a series of disturbing auditions for the mysterious Astraeus Pictures, Sarah lands the lead role in their latest film. As stardom beckons, the price of Sarah’s dreams lead her to an excruciating physical and mental transformation that will push her desires and ambitions to the very limits. From Travis Stevens, the producer of Cheap Thrills and Jodorowsky’s Dune, ‘Starry Eyes’ is an occult tale of ambition, possession, and the true price of fame.
Starry Eyes attempts to explore the relationship between real fame and the sort of ‘famous for a leaked porn tape’ fame that the world has seemly become obsessed with. The thought that being talented is no longer enough, in fact it is no longer necessary. We follow Sarah, a struggling actress living in Hollywood as she battles with her quest to stay sane and be discovered. She uses a coping mechanism of tearing her hair out and when she is spotted after an audition berating herself in this way the mysterious Astraeus Picture takes an interest in her and her. Alexandra Essoe pulls off a great performance as our wanna be starlet and reflects well the conflictive nature of outwardly seeming confident in what she’s doing but privately, quite literally, pulling her hair out. There was a vulnerability about aspects of her performance that had me rooting for her at even the most inopportune times. I was reminded at times of Ti Wests ‘The House Of The Devil’ in so much as it’s a modern take on territory that is often remembered, and loved, as being taken on so well with the Hammer horror stable. A film definitely worth a watch, with some above average production and a cast that for the most part help elevate this from the multitude of other low-budget indie horrors.
