When her fiancé demands a locked, private room in their home, a woman's lifelong stutter worsens as she is thrust into a world of paranoia, determined to uncover what he's hiding.
STILL LIFE: Our heroine RILEY takes a step back from the rejection of the art world to become a speech language pathologist, because she has a stutter herself. Conversely, her fiancé THEO’s artistic career takes a leap forward, and his success allows them to buy a house. Theo asks for a private room in their house to paint, work, and have independence and Riley agrees. Shortly after, Theo’s colleague Jillian goes missing. Riley is very disturbed by this, and while Theo shows concern, he is more invested in his upcoming art show. One day Riley discovers that Theo locks the door to his room while he works. Then, at their housewarming party, Riley learns that Theo has been questioned by the police about Jillian’s disappearance and he was the last person to see Jillian before she went missing. Egged on by her friend and a few cocktails, Riley tries to enter the room while Theo is away. She discovers that the door is locked from the outside. Riley becomes plagued with nightmares about the room. The couple’s once secure relationship declines into distrust. Riley begins to psychologically unravel and her stutter becomes worse, impacting her job and her sense of self. She calls a locksmith to break into the room, but abandons her plans when Theo returns early. Riley follows him to an apartment complex to which he has a key — it is Jillian’s apartment. Unable to excuse his lies, Riley takes drastic action. She crushes up one of his sleeping pills and drugs him. When he is asleep, she steals the room key and unlocks the door to the room. Inside she finds... Just an art studio. She upends the room, desperate to find something nefarious. Then, she hears Theo’s voice. He stands at the door, heartbroken by her betrayal. He just got the call: Jillian was found. She died by suicide. Riley’s paranoia proven unfounded and her actions unforgivable, she and Theo take time apart. Unable to trust herself and barely speaking due to the severity of her stutter, Riley takes time off from her SLP classes and tries to pick up the pieces. Then she gets a call from the hospital - Theo collapsed and fell down the stairs. The hospital staff ask her to go to his house to get some of his things. While at the house, she notices the door to his studio is ajar. She looks inside, filled with regret. In the light of day, she notices a crack in the ceiling that she didn’t catch before.... Could she have been right after all?
Clare Cooney is an LA based filmmaker. Her feature directorial debut DEPARTING SENIORS made its North American Premiere on Opening Night of the Chicago International Film Festival 2023 after screening internationally with FrightFest UK and the Fantastic Pavilion at Cannes. Her award-winning short films RUNNER, PICK UP, and AFTER (A LOVE STORY) have played at major U.S. festivals, including Academy-Qualifying festivals such as Cleveland International, LA Shorts International, Indy Shorts International, and Atlanta Film Festival, where Cooney received a “Filmmaker to Watch” nod. Her films have gained massive popularity on the prestigious short film channel Omeleto, at which Cooney is a Senior Programmer. Acting credits include NBC's CHICAGO MED, CW’s 4400, NBC’s Chicago PD, lead roles in numerous independent features, and a supporting role in Steve McQueen’s WIDOWS. Cooney originally hails from Detroit and trained extensively in Chicago, and is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Ireland. She is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and the University of Notre Dame.
Director of Photography - Geoff George
Producer - Maya Chupkov
Producer - Jesse Ford
