UNITY PICTURES PRESENTS
OXALIS
A COMPLETED FEATURE FILM
Written and Directed by Brian Gottlieb
OXALIS
A COMPLETED FEATURE FILM
Written and Directed by Brian Gottlieb
*Winner of The Mammoth Film Festival Summit Award "Achievement in Filmmaking"
A father’s perverse strategy for identifying his son's killer involves a nightmarish scientific experiment whose consequences are felt for generations to come.
Synopsis
John and Selene Ives return home to discover their young son Ethan has been murdered during a break-in.
In the months to follow, maddened with grief, they begin to contemplate the unthinkable… They approach a geneticist—a pariah in his field—with the idea of cloning their dead son.
After giving birth to baby Nick, Selene quickly senses that something’s wrong.
Eventually, her suspicions lead Selene to investigate and piece together the details of a living nightmare: John didn't give Ethan’s DNA to the geneticist… He gave the killer’s DNA.
Selene gave birth to a clone of the killer so that one day Nick's appearance would reveal the killer’s identity.
Ten years later, we meet Dean Ruster—Ethan’s killer—who has turned his life around and wants to make amends to the Ives for what he has done. He spies on the couple, who have somehow stayed together all these years and are raising Nick (Dean’s clone) as their son. When Dean finally works up the nerve to reveal his identity and confess, he upsets the Ives’ precarious status quo and finds himself immersed in the nightmare that he created.
Twenty years later, we meet up with Nick at the same age Dean was when he killed Ethan. Nick lives a life of solitude in a cabin deep in the forest. He is the product of murder and grief, but can he be salvaged? Can he escape his genetic destiny? An unexpected meeting with a stranger and a reckoning with his past finds him at a crossroads between self-destruction and self-discovery.
In the months to follow, maddened with grief, they begin to contemplate the unthinkable… They approach a geneticist—a pariah in his field—with the idea of cloning their dead son.
After giving birth to baby Nick, Selene quickly senses that something’s wrong.
Eventually, her suspicions lead Selene to investigate and piece together the details of a living nightmare: John didn't give Ethan’s DNA to the geneticist… He gave the killer’s DNA.
Selene gave birth to a clone of the killer so that one day Nick's appearance would reveal the killer’s identity.
Ten years later, we meet Dean Ruster—Ethan’s killer—who has turned his life around and wants to make amends to the Ives for what he has done. He spies on the couple, who have somehow stayed together all these years and are raising Nick (Dean’s clone) as their son. When Dean finally works up the nerve to reveal his identity and confess, he upsets the Ives’ precarious status quo and finds himself immersed in the nightmare that he created.
Twenty years later, we meet up with Nick at the same age Dean was when he killed Ethan. Nick lives a life of solitude in a cabin deep in the forest. He is the product of murder and grief, but can he be salvaged? Can he escape his genetic destiny? An unexpected meeting with a stranger and a reckoning with his past finds him at a crossroads between self-destruction and self-discovery.
Praise for OXALIS
REVIEW by Casey St. Charnez
Not a botanical examination of the edible, faintly lemony-tasting flower in the wood-sorrel family. Instead, a skillfully built, fully unpredictable sci-fi drama about the terrible decisions that grief-stricken people can make. John and Selene Ives come home from a pleasant dinner out, only to find their little boy Ethan and his nanny dead in the living room. “Blunt force trauma… home invasion,” says the police report. No suspects. No arrest. No closure. The well-to-do parents’ lives are eaten alive. In desperation, they engage a genetic scientist who was involved in cloning Dolly the sheep. Can he recreate Ethan the child? “The answer is yes,” says the doctor. John supplies a DNA sample. Within a year, John and Selene welcome their infant Nick. But something is off. As Nick becomes a toddler, it becomes apparent this child is no duplicate. That’s because John deliberately provided a sample–not from their first child but from the killer, who has been reborn with the face of the unknown murderer. Enough of the plot. The screenplay’s intricate time structure jumps around, first now, then 12 years ago, then 11 years after that, then 20 years later in what might be the year 2033. This allows the original killer from the past to confront the family in one or another present. Nothing goes anywhere you’d expect in this brainy, CGI-free postulation about the perils of the digital age: “An exact copy of the original is just as authentic.” Best to go brew some oxalis tea.
Cast
DEREK WILSON as Dean Ruster
An MFA graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Wilson started his career on stage appearing in such productions as ANNA CHRISTIE and 22 of Shakespeare's plays including RICHARD III and the Broadway revival of MACBETH. On television he’s appeared in THE GOOD WIFE, PERSON OF INTEREST, AQUARIUS, he recurred on the critically acclaimed Sundance Channel series RECTIFY, and became a series regular on AMC's PREACHER and now stars in Hulu's critically acclaimed FUTURE MAN.
An MFA graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Wilson started his career on stage appearing in such productions as ANNA CHRISTIE and 22 of Shakespeare's plays including RICHARD III and the Broadway revival of MACBETH. On television he’s appeared in THE GOOD WIFE, PERSON OF INTEREST, AQUARIUS, he recurred on the critically acclaimed Sundance Channel series RECTIFY, and became a series regular on AMC's PREACHER and now stars in Hulu's critically acclaimed FUTURE MAN.
KELLY PENDYGRAFT as Selene Ives
A Kentucky native, Kelly's well rounded career lands her in feature films such as PARAMOUNT'S ELIZABETHTOWN, JAKE SQUARED, and VOLTAGE PICTURES' GOOD KIDS opposite Ashley Judd. She's won a Best Actress Award at the NYFVF for her lead role in the sci-fi thriller INFECTION.
On television, Kelly recurred on Disney's WALK THE PRANK (Season 1 and 2), has appeared shows such as on PARKS AND RECREATION, JANE THE VIRGIN and recurred in FX Emmy Awards winning series AMERICAN CRIME STORY; THE PEOPLE v O.J. SIMPSON. Most likely you've seen one of Kelly's commercials, with over 150 to her repertoire. Kelly's latest, Magic Bullet, a film she produced starring Molly Parker and Rosemarie DeWitt is premiering at Slamdance 2018.
A Kentucky native, Kelly's well rounded career lands her in feature films such as PARAMOUNT'S ELIZABETHTOWN, JAKE SQUARED, and VOLTAGE PICTURES' GOOD KIDS opposite Ashley Judd. She's won a Best Actress Award at the NYFVF for her lead role in the sci-fi thriller INFECTION.
On television, Kelly recurred on Disney's WALK THE PRANK (Season 1 and 2), has appeared shows such as on PARKS AND RECREATION, JANE THE VIRGIN and recurred in FX Emmy Awards winning series AMERICAN CRIME STORY; THE PEOPLE v O.J. SIMPSON. Most likely you've seen one of Kelly's commercials, with over 150 to her repertoire. Kelly's latest, Magic Bullet, a film she produced starring Molly Parker and Rosemarie DeWitt is premiering at Slamdance 2018.
ANDREW WALKER as John Ives
Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Andrew began landing professional roles by age 14. At 16, he starred in the Canadian television series STUDENT BODIES, followed by BACK TO SHERWOOD, and RADIO ACTIVE.
After moving to Los Angeles, Andrew landed roles in the WB television series MAYBE IT’S ME and was a series regular on SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH. Recent television credits include E.R., THE BIG BANG THEORY, CSI: MIAMI, CSI: NEW YORK, and WITHOUT A TRACE.
Feature film credits include lead roles in STEEL TOES, LOADED, and KEPT WOMAN. Coming Soon national release GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD.
Andrew's most recognized from his work with the HALLMARK CHANNEL AND LIFETIME starring in over 15 feature films.
Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Andrew began landing professional roles by age 14. At 16, he starred in the Canadian television series STUDENT BODIES, followed by BACK TO SHERWOOD, and RADIO ACTIVE.
After moving to Los Angeles, Andrew landed roles in the WB television series MAYBE IT’S ME and was a series regular on SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH. Recent television credits include E.R., THE BIG BANG THEORY, CSI: MIAMI, CSI: NEW YORK, and WITHOUT A TRACE.
Feature film credits include lead roles in STEEL TOES, LOADED, and KEPT WOMAN. Coming Soon national release GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD.
Andrew's most recognized from his work with the HALLMARK CHANNEL AND LIFETIME starring in over 15 feature films.
Writer and Director
BRIAN GOTTLIEB
After graduating high school, Brian quickly moved to New York City and got a job at cult video store Kim's Underground in order to devour its entire inventory. He was successful. Still hungry, he began obsessively hanging around all the great NYC theaters and studying film at Hunter College. Brian currently lives in Los Angeles where he works as a writer, cinematographer, and director of feature films and documentaries.
After graduating high school, Brian quickly moved to New York City and got a job at cult video store Kim's Underground in order to devour its entire inventory. He was successful. Still hungry, he began obsessively hanging around all the great NYC theaters and studying film at Hunter College. Brian currently lives in Los Angeles where he works as a writer, cinematographer, and director of feature films and documentaries.
Director's Statement
When I consider the great memories of my life I remember looking down the aisle at my wife in her wedding dress, I remember early mornings wading deep into the pacific ocean with my dog, I remember the taste of tomatoes after my grandfather pulled them straight off the vine and taught me to eat them like apples.
I also remember the sound of the wind as Gelsomina chased after Zampano in Fellini’s La Strada. I remember that mournful song as Betty and Rita huddled together in the movie theater in Mulholland Drive. I remember that flickering light bulb revealing Vito Corleone waiting to kill Fanucci in Godfather II. I fully embrace the pomposity and pretension of the statement 'Cinema is Life.'
Whatever else was going on in my life, I knew I could escape to a darkened theater and be transported and, if the movie was truly great, transformed. But cinema was not only an escape; it was rebellion. It was a chance to break free from the normalcy of real life. And it’s an empathy-creating machine: it forces another’s perspective on the viewer. And this is what I intend to do: create an escape, foster rebellion, and force another’s perspective on a viewer.
Like the character-driven cinema of the 70s, the visual style of Oxalis reflects the conflicted emotions of the protagonists. I favor the gritty naturalism captured by shooting on location, using natural lighting whenever possible, long takes, and fluid editing. But as the characters plunge deeper into the abyss, the film itself seems to warp around their twisted emotions: touches of the expressionistic and even the surreal emerge—as in the works of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and Ingmar Bergman.
In the context of a character driven story, I aim to create a fully immersive world of visual ravishment; to use tone and mood and timing to manipulate an audience; to show the viewer things he or she has never seen before.
After my dog and my grandmother (my two best friends) died, I didn’t know what to do with myself. It wasn’t just the loss, it was not knowing what to do with all the love left over, with all the feelings that would ordinarily be directed at Jack and Jacqueline. I knew I had to write a movie that somehow, in some way, tackled those themes of memory and loss and regret. The idea - to clone one I loved and lost - came straight out of my heart, but I knew it wasn’t enough. So I pushed myself and emerged with the central idea of Oxalis: what if, rather than clone the loved one who was killed, the killer was cloned so the baby would reveal the identity of the killer? The story took on a life of its own as I explored the effect of a tragedy on all the people - central and peripheral - and the generations that followed. Oxalis is my personal reckoning—an attempt to come to terms with death, redemption, and salvation.
I also remember the sound of the wind as Gelsomina chased after Zampano in Fellini’s La Strada. I remember that mournful song as Betty and Rita huddled together in the movie theater in Mulholland Drive. I remember that flickering light bulb revealing Vito Corleone waiting to kill Fanucci in Godfather II. I fully embrace the pomposity and pretension of the statement 'Cinema is Life.'
Whatever else was going on in my life, I knew I could escape to a darkened theater and be transported and, if the movie was truly great, transformed. But cinema was not only an escape; it was rebellion. It was a chance to break free from the normalcy of real life. And it’s an empathy-creating machine: it forces another’s perspective on the viewer. And this is what I intend to do: create an escape, foster rebellion, and force another’s perspective on a viewer.
Like the character-driven cinema of the 70s, the visual style of Oxalis reflects the conflicted emotions of the protagonists. I favor the gritty naturalism captured by shooting on location, using natural lighting whenever possible, long takes, and fluid editing. But as the characters plunge deeper into the abyss, the film itself seems to warp around their twisted emotions: touches of the expressionistic and even the surreal emerge—as in the works of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and Ingmar Bergman.
In the context of a character driven story, I aim to create a fully immersive world of visual ravishment; to use tone and mood and timing to manipulate an audience; to show the viewer things he or she has never seen before.
After my dog and my grandmother (my two best friends) died, I didn’t know what to do with myself. It wasn’t just the loss, it was not knowing what to do with all the love left over, with all the feelings that would ordinarily be directed at Jack and Jacqueline. I knew I had to write a movie that somehow, in some way, tackled those themes of memory and loss and regret. The idea - to clone one I loved and lost - came straight out of my heart, but I knew it wasn’t enough. So I pushed myself and emerged with the central idea of Oxalis: what if, rather than clone the loved one who was killed, the killer was cloned so the baby would reveal the identity of the killer? The story took on a life of its own as I explored the effect of a tragedy on all the people - central and peripheral - and the generations that followed. Oxalis is my personal reckoning—an attempt to come to terms with death, redemption, and salvation.
For more information or to request a film screener please contact Distributor Unity Pictures / Executive Producer
Stephen Harmaty
e: stephen@unitypicturesgroup.com
p: 604.437.5000
Stephen Harmaty
e: stephen@unitypicturesgroup.com
p: 604.437.5000
