It happens way too often. Even in the smallest of towns—the disappearance nobody can explain, and nobody can stop talking about. With How the Lonely Keep, writer-director Nathan Sellers takes that familiar true-crime setup and turns it into something of a ghost story.
A teenage girl (Sara Hallisey) went missing weeks ago, and the search hasn’t turned up a thing. Now she’s back…as a disembodied voice reflecting on the somber tone of her community: the sadness, anger, and longing for the life she will no longer have. She drifts through the important places in her life: her bedroom, the home where her mother (Mimi Laquerre) and father (Christer Holmquist) quietly grieve, and the empty halls of her school.
Then the mood shifts drastically as she recalls the events leading to her disappearance, which involve the Man (Guy Ventoliere).
“She drifts through the important places in her life: her bedroom, the home where her mother and father quietly grieve, and the empty halls of her school.”
Tone is everything, and the tone of Nathan Sellers’ How the Lonely Keep is haunting. Visually, the short is a series of haunting images of a family and community grieving, featuring the girl’s empty room, the school’s empty hallways, and her parents’ empty prospects for the future. Then it all shifts to the everyday life of the evil Man.
Now layer on top of the visuals the haunting voice of the girl, as though she were speaking to us over an old landline. Yes, her words are haunting, but Sellers’ script makes them poetic. How the Lonely Keep is all about setting the right tone and walking us down the path from grief to a deeper sadness.
For more information, visit the How the Lonely Keep official Instagram page.
"…Now she's back…as a disembodied voice…"
