genre:
Surrealist comedy.
logline:
Outraged over the approval to double the fracking operations devastating her hometown, a young woman is forced by her sick father to serve the fracking company’s CEO when he dines at their failing restaurant.
Brief synopsis:
MEG protests her town hall’s approval to double the fracking that has been drilling the land for decades. In an effort to relax, she microdoses magic mushrooms and starts another day working at the family restaurant with her sick father, JACK. Their typical routine is interrupted when the CEO of the fracking company and his bodyguard show up to dine.
Believing that the fracking is poisoning the town and played a hand in her mother’s death, Meg refuses to serve the men. Jack, however, exists in deep denial, knowing they need the fracking company’s business to survive.
Trapped between her morals and the most meaningful relationship she has, Meg retreats to her car, where she takes a larger dose of mushrooms. Hallucinating her rebellious mother, she gets the idea to teach the frackers a lesson by slipping them a massive dose in their spaghetti. However, things don’t quite go as planned…
director's statement:
With the economic system consolidating wealth among the world’s richest and the looming threat of global climate catastrophe, Millennials and Zoomers are facing tough existential questions about our future. These questions become even more complicated in the face of the outrageously divisive nature that has taken hold when expressing one’s opinion. Opinions have become so politicized that they have the power to destroy the very relationships we need to maintain our well-being—relationships with friends and family. Our mental health hangs in the balance between the need for connection, expressing our authentic selves, and striving to do what’s right for the long-term survival of humanity.
Lacking political or economic power—and perhaps as part of human evolution itself—younger generations are turning inward. We recognize that the revolution we face is a spiritual one. The only hope for humanity lies in healing ourselves internally, on an individual basis, to gather the strength needed to live above our trivial differences and unite as one.
This is the dilemma I aimed to capture in a fun and unique way when I wrote HOT SODA. I wanted to address huge existential problems while taking viewers on an enjoyable ride—ultimately leaving them with a glimmer of hope. Though the times ahead may seem impossible, I believe humanity possesses the capacity to save itself from even the direst of circumstances. We must dissolve the illusion of boundaries that society has imposed upon us. We must come to a clear and lucid understanding that WE have the power to save OURSELVES, to become whole and undivided, and in doing so, contribute to the redemption of us all.
Director, Nello DiGiandomenico
