A young woman gets attacked and discovers a new power fueled by an excessive hunger for human hearts
A young woman, Suzy, gets brutally attacked. After the mauling, she starts experiencing strange and intense cravings, as well as an enhanced sense of smell and hearing. Everywhere she goes she keeps seeing a girl in a fox mask. Suzy’s boyfriend—Corey—knows that something’s wrong, but Suzy won’t open up to him, because she’s too afraid. One night, Suzy follows a homeless woman into a dark alley. Suzy transforms, rips the woman’s heart out, and eats it. Suzy tracks down the girl in the fox mask, Veronika. Suzy hears her heartbeat, but it doesn’t make her hungry. In fact it’s quite the opposite: their hearts are in sync. Veronika becomes a mentor to Suzy. Veronika introduces Suzy to a psychedelic flower she’s been taking to expand her mind, and learn more about her abilities and purpose. Increasingly terrified, Corey confronts Suzy’s strange behavior. Suddenly, Suzy is overcome by her cravings and accidentally kills Corey, eating his heart. Corey’s death takes a toll on her. She needs to discover the cause of her transformation and confront it. Suzy takes a heroic dose of the psychedelic flowers. Does she want to end her torment or does she want answers? On the psychedelic, Suzy discovers that her power came from within or is it a curse? She also learns that she and Veronika are not alone. There are more creatures like them out there, and in order to survive they need to find them. They need to find their origin. Veronika and Suzy use their enhanced smell and hearing to figure out where to go next. They hear a heartbeat coming from far, far away. They can tell it’s one of their own. They pack a bag, jump in a car, and follow the beating heart.
Mariya Somova is a Ukrainian political refugee who moved to the United States of America at the age of 19 to pursue a career in filmmaking. She began by dreaming up concepts and filming them on her small home camera. She developed by working different industry-related jobs, during which she learned every aspect on set. Each experience along her path ultimately informed her most personal film yet, I Want to Live on Mars. Together with Joe Cyrus she co-founded and owns AuraPyre Productions, focusing on independent filmmaking and music production.
Writer, Director, Producer - Mariya Somova
Actor, Producer, Original Score - Joe Cyrus
Cinematographer - Adam Ninyo
