Film + TV

PREMIERE: Watch Seth Smith's new short film 'The Brym'

by Jesse Locke

Halifax’s Seth Smith may still be best known as the frontman of Dog Day, but if he continues down the directorial path, that could change. Smith’s previous film projects have included the surrealist-noir short I Am Coming To Paris To Kill You and the feel-bad feature Lowlife. Now, he’s returned with his latest spine-chilling vision: The Brym.

Inspired by Celtic poetry, Northern folklore, and the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, the self-described “fucked-up fable” tells a tale of a supernatural oceanic entity. When this mysterious power possesses a man, he torments the inhabitants of a small seaside town before falling in love with a young woman and conceiving a cursed half-spirit child.

The story is narrated by the poetry of 7-year-old Elayna Veinot in the style of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (call this Days of Hell?). It also includes unforgettable images such as a guitar gushing blood. If Alejandro Jodorowsky rewrote The Wicker Man in the wilds of Nova Scotia, it might look something like this.

With the support of Arts Nova Scotia, Smith produced The Brym‘s first installment and hopes to spin it into 14 more episodes. Watch the four-minute short below, featuring collaborators such as Dog Day’s Nancy Urich, OBEY Convention founder Darcy Spidle, actors Emma Wells, Tim Dunn, Paul Hammond, and more. Scroll below for a series of moving cinemagraphs.