joma
Directed by Nick Thompson
On a getaway weekend in the Northwest, four friends are pulled into their own dark, dangerous alternate realities.
Presented by Nick Thompson
“The Lynch film that may be the most apt comparison, though, is Inland Empire. Like that three-hour odyssey of a woman in trouble, Skagit also follows a nonlinear dream logic, expressionistic scenes skip from place to place, action to action, never quite making clear what is reality and what isn’t...While there may not be chain rattling or cabinet banging, the ghosts inherent in the Skagit landscape, the same ones that just might be sending these characters into a tizzy, drive this horror. These ghosts are not visible but linger just at the edge of Thompson’s stunning views of the diverse terrain. There is a sense, in many of the natural shots without glaring indications of contemporary technology, of a collapsing of the past and present. ”
— Emily Colucci, Filthy Dreams
“Skagit... neatly upends a trope of popular horror films — that is, setting young, attractive 20-somethings in an unfamiliar environment, and killing them off in a gory manner one by one as the audience tries to figure out whodunnit...Instead, in Thompson’s capable hands, Elsa (Taige Lauren), Christian (Allen Miller), Willa (Rheanna Atendido) and Colin (Keenan Ward) are each portrayed as being charismatic in their own ways, yet none of them are cookie-cutter characters who can easily be figured out...Will the foursome make it out with their souls and minds intact? What does sex have to do with it? It’s hard to say without going into the specifics of how Skagit ends or the otherworldly elements that make the movie so engaging.”
— Amy Kepferle, Cascadia Daily News
Nick Thompson is a filmmaker and photographer in Seattle, his hometown. He recently finished his feature film Skagit, an experimental thriller set in Washington State, which won Best Feature at Hastings Rocks Film Festival and Bleedingham, among other awards, and is distributed around the world through M.Y. Productions. He’s also worked in the editorial department on documentaries including Jim and Cameraperson, both of which premiered at Sundance. Nick’s work has been presented at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, Local Sightings Film Festival, and Northwest Film Forum. He was profiled as The Stranger’s Artist of the Week upon the release of his gallery show and fourth photo book, Curveball Karaoke, featuring portraits of people who sing karaoke at Lottie’s in Seattle. He’s a professor at Seattle Colleges, Interlochen Academy’s online program, and a teaching artist in local schools through South End Stories. He recently finished his second feature screenplay, Decade, and is currently developing and fundraising for the project with producers Stephen Mastrocola and Caleb Jaffe.