Aunt Cindy and The Alchemist is a triple love story. Devin Scott’s short film tells the story of a moment in time capturing a son’s love for his Mother, a family’s love for a car, and his Mother’s love for her new life partner, Aunt Cindy. In the mid-1960s, the unnamed main character’s Grandfather ships a new Ford Mustang to Italy to try to market the brand in Europe in hopes of duplicating the success of U.S. sales. The response was lackluster, so he sent his daughter, and her partner, Aunt Cindy over to show off the car.
“…Grandfather ships a new Ford Mustang to Italy to try to market the brand in Europe…”
The tour of Italy was bankrolled by the Grandfather pitching it as location filming to market the Mustang. He hired a cinematographer to follow the ladies around and shoot them and the car. This results in some of the finest quality home movies imaginable. The film is made up of this footage combined with still images, and b-roll coverage of the Mustang. Voice actor Casey Campbell narrates the film.
Just when you are immersed in the bittersweet tale of a family navigating changes, Scott pulls off a stunning twist at the end that re-frames the whole story. The credits contain a follow-up gut punch that may make you grin, or may make you feel taken in by this charming trifle. Viewers will need to decide for themselves whether to embrace the conceit, or WTF your way to the kitchen for a snack and to scratch your head. Aunt Cindy and The Alchemist is a delightful tale of a family, a car, and love in all its many shapes and trajectories. It’s also cleverly innovative use of “found footage.”
"…delightful..."
