Our Monsters was part of the Crazy8s Film Society's 2024 mentorship program and 8 day film challenge. This film was made completely in 8 days; 3 days principle photography and 5 days post production.

Our Monsters is a short film about two kids, Daniel and Peter, who team up to defeat the monster in Daniel’s closet. The story begins with Daniel impatiently waiting until he hears Peter’s voice through his walkie talkie. The boys prepare for their mission, donning homemade armour and weapons. When Daniel opens the closet, he discovers a pile of laundry, which is disappointing until his imagination brings the monster to life, and a battle ensues. With Peter cheering him on, Daniel emerges victorious.

https://www.instagram.com/our_monsters_short_film/

Writer/Director: Mia Mango (Petrovic)

Cast: Azriel Dalman, Xander Wilson, Christian Lagasse

Director Statement
Our Monsters was created the moment my partner brought home a pair of vintage walkie-talkies. Seeing them, I was instantly reminded of this pair my dad used to have and all the time my brother spent trying to steal them for us to play with. We hardly ever turned them on, out of fear of being found out. Still, something about sneaking through the trees in the backyard and around the house, holding these walkie-talkies as a way of being close, sparked my imagination as a kid. The things that always seem to stick with me are these good parts, and above all else, the weight of being alone.

Our Monsters is about two young boys, one being a child living in an abusive household, Peter, and the other being a friend who witnesses his situation. I feel that most stories I’ve seen surrounding abuse are about the abused person's experience which I can relate to. Still, I leave feeling isolated and stuck in the headspace of the past. Or they’re about a character who comes in and saves the day, but anytime someone tried to ‘save’ me, it made things worse. I wanted to create a film that I related to emotionally but also brings me a sense of comfort with the hopes that it reaches others in this way too.

This film is centered around the ideas of ‘monsters in our closets’ and the differences between the monsters each person faces in their lives. I’ll never forget the feeling I had the first time I hid in a closet, it became a safe space for me through hard times. It wasn’t until high school that I realized how many kids around me were going through the same thing, though I never let them know that I did too until a week before we left my father. After years of feeling alone, I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t let someone else go through it alone if I had the chance to help. In the story, Daniel goes through the same thought process I did when he sees Peter cowering in his closet at the end. Having never faced abuse before, he’s confused, scared even. But when he sees the look of genuine fear on his friend's face, he understands, even as a kid, that he cannot save Peter. He has no power to stop his father or change the course of his life, so he decides to do the only thing he knows to do, to simply be there. That is what Our Monsters is about. I aim to show others that no matter what they are going through in life, they are not alone in what they are feeling.

The film begins with animated elements that are styled in the look of a young boy's comic-like drawings. The reasoning for this is the overactive imagination I had as a child and how it got me through the roughest parts. I want to use it to bring a sense of childlike wonder to the film. I think it is important to recognize that being a child living in an abusive situation is confusing to start with, and it’s important to show that you don’t start by being ‘mature for your age’ and mentally worn down. You start out as a kid where you understand the world to be full of fantastical things, but with each painful experience, you start understanding little by little. I always thought my father was my hero, until one day, even as a child, I finally understood what my life really meant. I want to give life to that side of the story, and I will within Our Monsters.