Elderon

2014, 15 minutes

A future-fantasy drama following Jess as she gets transported to the land of Elderon amidst a great war.

ELDERON takes place in 24th Century and can be described as Avatar meets Shutter Island. It revolves around a fairy tale-esque story of the main female protagonist, Jess. Her qualities are reserved, shy and withdrawn. Jess gets transported to Elderon in the midst of a "Great war" between the Necktronites and the Shavidais. They are only 3/4 of the way through. Essentially it's a losing battle. Synopsis: The film starts with Jess in a school setting where she is the victim of bullying. Through the miracle of a school bus accident one day, she finds herself thinking she is in heaven. She wakes up and sees a firefly, which her curiosity leads her to run towards. This beautiful, mesmerising creature is essentially a portal between earth and what she will soon discover as the mythical land of ELDERON. Once in Elderon, she is in a truly enchanted place. She is surrounded by tall Syconda - cedar and pine trees that seem alive and try to wrap themselves around her for a hug. She sees tropical plants and temperate forest carpets and ferns that are living in a magical dust substance and seem to go on as far as the eye can see. Millions of tiny orbs and flowers open to welcome her, as if they are waking up. They glow and emit the most unbelievable colours. There's a lingering atmosphere and little bugs, like dung beetles, welcome Jess via their blue, enchanting lights. Essentially, the land introduces a new species and ecosystem that derives and gives off energy in a new way completely foreign to Jess, and the viewer. But it’s not all a walk in the park – she’s been dropped in the middle of a war. Through her exploration and natural curiosity – Jess comes across the diversity of people that live in this land and realises she wants to fight for her survival and for Elderon as well. Perceived good can be evil and not all is at it seems when it comes to the evil characters. Who can and can't be trusted is something that everyone must be cautious about. A bitter sweet ending is reached where it's filled with love between Jess and Kane (at a huge price to both), though nothing is concretely fairy tale style perfect. They realise and fight for their love. The war is over, and Jess returns to earth.... There's a penultimate twist and surprise in the climatic ending, leaving viewers surprised and wanting a sequel.... The war is over for now, in an "Elderon" sense.



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