UK
Writer/Director: Rachel Maclean
Producer: Ohna Falby
Genre: Satirical Fantasy
An island community tries to turn back time to quell natural catastrophes that plague them. When an Elf appears, promising the Matriarch leader quick-fix solutions, a secret agreement is made. But like all Faustian pacts, it backfires and soon everything starts to unravel.
Melted is an absurdist dark comedy about Heather, the charismatic Shamanistic leader of an eco-community, who believes she is saving mother nature from climate disaster. She is creating a better life by turning back the clocks and living like ancient highlanders. It can be tough living without modern trappings, especially when pests and a deadly infectious disease threaten her community. However she’s willing to make the sacrifice for the good of mother nature – or at least she thinks she is. It’s only when a Christmas elf appears and tempts her with magic solutions to her problems, that she is made to reassess her motivations. Thanks to Elf’s gifts, Heather performs miracles which raise her status with the islanders. The only catch is they break Heather’s own rules, harming mother nature. Soon Heather depends on elf to maintain her situation and is all consumed by covering up her illicit activities and their harmful side effects, focused not on what’s good for mother nature, but what’s good for her public image. Her subterfuge quickly escalates, pushing her towards bribery and then murder. Over the course of the film, the elf’s enabling peels back the layers of unreality that cushion Heather’s self-image, leaving her exposed and uncomfortably aware that “saving mother nature” might not be quite what she’s in it for after all.
Heather’s is a story of our times. How can we be selfless in a society that so generously rewards narcissism? And how can we tackle grand collective problems like the climate crisis when we are so inured to a sense of our own self-importance?