A mother with one meal to prepare and no way out.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, December 8, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Patricia McCormack makes her directorial debut while starring in the critically acclaimed dramatic short film MYRTLE, currently screening at festivals worldwide. As the mother of a death row inmate, McCormack tells the story of a woman grappling with reality and grasping for any sense of stability. Myrtle, a trailer park Mom from Indiana, cooks dinner for her son as he awaits execution on death row. Inspired by a real event and a mother’s unconditional love, audiences watch Myrtle’s composure unravel as she prepares her son’s final meal, all while delivering a thoughtfully crafted commentary on America’s socio-political climate. Masterful acting, screenwriting, and cinematography collide to create a haunting synergy that captures the bleakness of growing up poor in middle America. The judges reviews from Kino Film London raved that “the filmmaker has so expertly woven in an impending dread. The performance is wonderful, reminiscent of Kathy Bates.” This gut-wrenching, imminent tragedy represents the reality of a death sentence while also examining the devastating impact of food insecurity and poverty on a mother’s ability to make healthy choices for the survival of her family.

An evolution from a play written by Megan Barker, McCormack explains how the short film came to fruition saying, “Megan was interested in writing something around a last meal and stumbled upon an article, detailing the case of a woman granted the right to cook her son’s last meal in 2001, this was the germination for the play.” From there, Patricia decided to do an edit of the mother’s story as she thought the premise was strong for a short. “Now that we’ve shot Myrtle our intention is to develop a feature film around the story of Myrtle and Brandon, their journey towards the night of the murder and what actually took place”.

In collaboration with producer Shaheen Schleifer, since MYRTLE debuted on June 29, 2021, McCormack’s exquisite performance and directorial abilities have garnered various awards and features from film festivals around the globe including the prestigious ‘EDA Special Mention Award’ from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists in partnership with Tallgrass Film Festival, and Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival. MYRTLE has earned titles like Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Narrative Short, and Best Drama Short and has been placed as a semi-finalist at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival. Having been selected for 72 festivals internationally so far, this film has left critics and audiences stunned -- from the United States to Europe -- with the profound, yet hard-to-swallow, depth of intentional and creative storytelling centered around the “choices” open to the poor, a mother's unconditional love, social justice, and capital punishment. This film delivered art that faces hardship head on, providing viewers with an undeniably vulnerable, personal showcase of a woman living through a traumatic experience.

Reviews on MYRTLE:

“A tightly paced film with a unique storyline that was very effectively portrayed…..Powerful and effectively done. The matter-of-fact telling of the story avoided over-sentimentality. One screener termed the film ‘a dispassionate punch in the gut.’” - Rochester International Film Festival

“Actor/director Patricia McCormack’s short is absolutely riveting with writer Megan Barker mixing plenty of sage social commentary into Myrtle’s recipe for meatballs.” - Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Audience reviews from WildSound Feedback Festival where Myrtle picked up the Audience Award for Best Performance:

“This is a really fascinating piece…. it is spoon-fed to us so delicately and methodically that you savor every bite…”

“[MYRTLE] is so well written and done in a way where you’re just kind of pulled through without being completely exposed to what is happening from the get-go.”

“I’ve never really seen anything like it”

“An outstanding script…. quite deep and transcendental”

“MYRTLE might be one of my favorite short films I’ve ever seen in my life. Period. Hands down.”

Dawn Jones
Pressed PR
dawn@pressedfreshpr.com

'MYRTLE' Trailer

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