The Taking of Ezra Bodine (2014)

Сюжет кино: Writer’s Statement
Like a lot of my writing, I was interested in telling a story that was based in religious subtext. I have stated many times that religion, if not approached with a pure heart and honest intentions, can lead one down a dark path. I wanted to write a story that spoke on it, just not directly. That’s when I crafted a script that symbolized my feelings and thoughts in a metaphoric way instead of presenting them outright.
I created a character who had been living in religion for a very long time and who had gotten into the mindset that their specific religion was all there was. They knew the only way to go in order to meet God. The way they did things should never change or evolve. They were the only one who knew what it was all about and everyone should listen to them. No compromise, no compassion, no love except for the love of their religion.
I also created a character who was new to religion. Someone who was zealous and thought they had great, new ideas on how to approach religion and that there needed to be change. Things needed to be seen in a new light. It didn’t matter how long things had been done the same way. It didn’t matter how anyone else felt or thought. They had the fresh new ideas and should be heard and respected.
Both of these characters were lost in their own interpretation of what religion should be with no regard to the other person or their thoughts and feelings. They were each sticking to their ideas and were not interested in listening to what the other had to say.
Then I created a character to act as religion. It was a living, breathing creation in and of itself, but it only acted in the desire of the person who had it in their grasp. So we saw one person who had the religion of ‘my way or the highway’ for a long time and because of it, was pretty sick with a bad cough. Then we saw a new person with the same way of looking at religion who got their hands on it and they too, instantly, developed the same symptoms. **cough, cough**
I wanted to explore all that in a gritty, dark script that took place in the middle of nowhere Texas and because of that we have the short film, ‘The Taking of Ezra Bodine.’