Last Rites, The film

Hey Film Aficionados,

Perhaps the news is already seeping out. We just wrapped with editing the director’s cut of the short film Last Rites and it’s just beginning to circulate among the public and at festivals. Last Rites is the kind of film where you’ll need a minute to emotionally recover after the last credits fade. The kind of ending you’ll be discussing over drinks with comments like, “But wasn’t that…?” or “Did he actually see the…?”

Shot entirely in Maine using a very talented local cast, the uniquely structured screenplay tells the story of Jon, a disgraced former priest obsessed with finding proof of an afterlife in a collection of last words he secretly recorded while performing Last Rites.

Of course one of the advantages of shooting a story with supernatural undertow in “Strange Maine” is that you stumble upon locations with real juju (think an island forest with fairy houses and a circular grave for dead horses). You can probably sense it while watching, but that’s another story. 

Sixth sense aside, Last Rites does feel more like a meditation than a run-of-the-mill short film. Its fluid, monastic pace packs a continuous punch as it seamlessly jumps around in time uncovering pieces of a puzzle that only Jon and us are privy to. 

At once inspiring, emotional, mysterious and thought provoking, Last Rites is without a doubt a short worth catching and one we hope garners much more attention in the exciting months to come.  

Thanks everyone!

Joe Bearor and Stephanie Atkinson in a scene from Last Rites.