SYLVIA (Coming soon)
SILENT NARRATIVE SHORT
Written and directed by Jessie Barr
Starring Jena Malone, Amanda Carlin, and Tyler Jackson Rice.
Sylvia is waiting for her life to begin, withering under the weight of her hypochondriac mother until a stranger comes into her world and changes everything.
*Recipient of the 2025 MOS Film Grant
SYNOPSIS
Sylvia is a lonely deaf woman in her 30s who spends her days caring for her manipulative, hypochondriac mother. Trapped in a loop of domestic servitude, Sylvia expresses her repressed desires in secret, making out with lemons and silently screaming into the void. When a handsome stranger fluent in sign language arrives to photograph old houses and requests to stay for a few nights, Sylvia’s world cracks open. Through shared glances, subtle gestures, and stolen moments, a quiet, sensual connection blossoms—offering Sylvia a glimpse of the intimacy and freedom she’s been denied. But love doesn’t scream; it simmers. In a house of silence and control, Sylvia must choose whether to stay buried in duty or step into her own desire. With no recorded dialogue and rich visual storytelling, Sylvia is a tactile, intimate portrait of longing, agency, and awakening.
