Film: I Blame Society

Gillian Wallace Horvat is a clever young filmmaker from Los Angeles who stars in her own film, I Blame Society.

Frustrated at the lack of interest in her film proposals, she set out to make a documentary of a clever young filmmaker who becomes a serial killer.

It’s a film where the line between truth and fantasy are often blurred.

Horvat is clearly frustrated by thr sexism rampant in the movie business.

After her short film Kiss Kiss Fingerbang won at the prestigious South By SouthWest awards in 2015 she thought there would be more interest in her work…”As in, ‘Oh, she won at South by Southwest – maybe we should look at her stuff the way we would look at stuff from some guy who hasn’t done anything yet.’”

I Blame Society uses a mockumentary format to explore the many obstacles facing young female directors – even when, in common with the film’s heroine, they are willing to kill to get into the film industry.

So, as the film Gillian, she embarks on a murder trail.

Using small portable cameras, including one she keeps strapped to her forehead, rather like a miner’s headlamp, she starts stalking her victims, filming them, breaking into their apartments and despatching them by various means, using ingenious “suicide notes” to avoid suspicion.

Her boyfriend doesn’t take her seriously, but he is starting to get worried.

“There’s no movie that’s worth hurting someone for,” he says.

There’s a long pause before she answers, “There’s real benefits in killing a bad person if you get a good movie out of it.”

As the body count grows, Gillian really gets into the swing of it.

“I’m so good at murdering. It sucks that I can’t take the credit for it,” she reflects.

Eventually she feels that her killer film is ready to hit the market.

After sending the script to two young movie executives, she goes to their office to discuss the project.

It quickly becomes obvious that they haven’t even read the script and have no interest in doing so, fobbing her off with vague suggestions about the need to “have strong female leads” and to “go bolder”.

When you’re a flourishing serial killer, there’s only one way to go bolder.

I Blame Society is a darkly comic movie with all the ingredients to become a cult favourite. It could even open some doors for its creator.

I Blame Society is now showing at Luna Leederville.

Watch the trailer…