Always on
This project successfully funded on 2nd June 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Mother Monster – A Visceral Short About Motherhood
Cardiff, United Kingdom
Aim
A body-horror short film about a new mother whose body keeps “giving birth” long after childbirth is over.
We’re currently in conversations with organisations such as ElectHer and the Fawcett Society to help inform the film’s themes.
Why This Film
Motherhood is often described as beautiful, transformative and fulfilling. What is spoken about less is how physically invasive, violent, and identity-altering it can be.
MOTHER MONSTER explores birth not as the beginning of a life, but as the end of one.
The film follows a new mother in a secluded forest landscape whose body continues to “give birth” long after childbirth is over. As her body breaks down, so does her sense of self. What remains is animal instinct.
This is not a film about shock. It is about confronting what is usually softened or romanticised.
If you’ve ever:
- Felt alienated by idealised narratives of motherhood or misogyny
- Experienced identity narrowing under social expectation
- Been drawn to cinema that trusts the body over explanation
Then you are already part of this film’s audience.
Directors Statement
I’m making MOTHER MONSTER because I’m frustrated by how birth and motherhood are culturally simplified.
We are shown the glow.
We are told it is transformative.
We are told it makes a woman whole.
What we rarely see is how physically invasive it can be. How the body doesn’t simply “bounce back.” How care can become consuming.
This film refuses reassurance.
It refuses a diagnosis.
Instead, it asks:
When a woman is reduced to one characteristic, "aka that of the mother", alone, what kind of creature is she allowed to become?
What the Film Is
MOTHER MONSTER is a short experimental film set in a Welsh forest landscape.
It opens after childbirth.
The baby exists. The event is “over.”
But the body hasn’t finished birthing.
What follows is a second, more violent expulsion, not of a child, but of identity, autonomy, and personhood. As her body continues to rupture, human logic collapses, and something instinctive replaces it.
This is not a story of liberation.
It is what remains when nothing is left to protect.
Team
Director-Writer:
Maria is a writer-director and creative producer focused on psychologically embodied storytelling.
Her short WOMAN ranked in the Top 14% on Coverfly and placed Top 20 of 2025 in its category. She has collaborated with Emmy-winning producers, SAG-AFTRA actors, and senior-level industry creatives across development and post-production.
MOTHER MONSTER continues her exploration of intimacy, identity, and the politics of the body.
Intimacy Coordinator and Movement Coach:
Bess Noakes-Kettel is an Intimacy Coordinator, award-winning Choreographer, and Movement Director working across film, television, theatre, and live performance.
Her practice is rooted in consent-led, performer-centred processes, supporting safe, clear, and creatively ambitious storytelling. She collaborates closely with directors, producers, and performers to choreograph intimacy and movement that feels authentic, emotionally precise, and grounded in performer wellbeing.
Drawing on her choreographic background, she brings a strong sense of physical storytelling, musicality, and narrative clarity to every project.
Cinematographer:
Catarina is a Portugal-born cinematographer based in Wales, with over a decade of experience across narrative and documentary.
Holding a BA in Fine Art and a Master’s in Cinematography, her work prioritises texture, restraint, and emotional presence over spectacle.
Her work has been published internationally and featured in outlets including The Guardian, BBC News and Pink News.
Catarina specialises in images that feel intimate and grounded, without exploitation.
Production Sound:
Giannis Mihos is a UK-based Sound Recordist, Sound Designer, Composer and Audio Forensics Specialist working across international film and broadcast. His expertise spans pre-production sound strategy, location sound coordination and high-level post-production design.
He has attended the Cannes Film Festival as an invited industry professional and has worked there as a production sound recordist specialist on the red carpet.
With credits across feature films and documentaries, he combines technical precision with strong musical intelligence. Alongside his film career, he teaches music and composes for screen, bridging cinematic storytelling with disciplined craft.
Production Designer:
Linde is a production designer and prop maker working primarily in horror, with a strong focus on building atmospheric, unsettling worlds. Her recent credits include Borley Rectory: The Awakening (2025), Bride of Frankenstein (2026), and Dracula in Space (2026), where she handled both production design and prop making. On MOTHER MONSTER, she’s excited to help craft a bold, eerie visual landscape that fully supports the film’s tone and emotional core.
Actress:
Flora Blissett (she/her) is a London-based actor. Credits include Princess Diana in The Lady (ITV+, 2026), Alvilde in East of the Sun, West of the Moon (University of Roehampton, 2024), Maria Marten in Beth Flintoff’s The Ballad of Maria Marten, and Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (both at South London Theatre, 2025).
She is currently rehearsing the role of Jackie Coryton in Noël Coward’s Hay Fever with Miller Theatre (May 2026). Her screen work has received praise in press (The Edge SUSU, Aug 2025; Brixton Buzz Aug & Sept 2024) and cited in TV Guide and Entertainment Daily! (Feb 2026). Flora is represented by Fire Talent Management.
Makeup, Hair and SFX:
Katie and Imogen are currently studying Hair, Makeup and Special Effects for TV and Film at the University of South Wales. Both with prior qualifications in makeup and beauty, often used in graduate films and theatre productions.
Why this Needs to be Crowdfunded:
This film sits outside commercial and institutional comfort zones, so crowdfunding allows it to exist without compromise while still meeting ethical production standards.
The film industry rarely uplifts honest and non sexualised experimental stories centred around the female experience, not glorified against the male gaze. This film is exactly that.
How will the Money be used:
We are raising 8,000 GB pounds.
- Most of this budget goes to paying cast and crew properly for physically demanding, specialist work, because this film cannot be made ethically without that.
- Location includes the pricing and the ethical use of a Welsh forest and outdoor park, including insurance and permissions
- Equipment includes the minimum amount for appropriate equipment, also considering that some equipment will be sourced in-kind
- Catering will provide the minimum amount needed for a warm meal and snacks. During an outdoor shoot, everyone must be fed warm and cooked food. The catering budget includes a basic salary for a personal chef chosen for the production with experience in catering for previous film productions.
- Accommodation and travel include the minimum ethical requirement for cast and crew arriving in South Wales (mostly from London)
- The shoot will be one to 1-2 days, with an extra day of contingency due to the weather; therefore, accommodation and travel include 3 nights. This is due to unreliable Welsh weather.
- Contingency involves a small percentage of the final budget to allow for problem-solving and anything that unexpectedly pops up, including any additional insurance, etc.
Safety & Ethics:
This project includes depictions of physical distress and non-sexual nudity. No real harm will take place.
All scenes are achieved through:
- Performance rehearsed between the actress, the intimacy coordinator and the director.
- Framing through strategic cinematography, production design and sound design
- Safe practical effects led by our SFX and production design team.
An intimacy coordinator is present throughout.
Consent is ongoing.
Cast and crew retain the right to stop at any time.
Care is built into the process.
Where This Film Is Going:
MOTHER MONSTER is designed as a festival-led short.
It is intended for international festivals that champion formally daring and female-driven cinema.
It is artistic, immersive, and a target audience that seeks work that challenges them.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made