alienated

Logline: A troubled teenage girl discovers she's not human, but an alien hybrid, part of a secret extraterrestrial breeding program, which forces her to confront a world she doesn’t want to belong to.

Synopsis: Alienated is a dark sci-fi coming-of-age story about a troubled teenage girl who discovers a strange, greenish-blue growth on her shoulder at a high school party. What begins as an embarrassing secret soon unravels into a terrifying revelation: she is an alien hybrid, the product of a covert extraterrestrial breeding program. As her powers awaken, she is forced to confront not only her fractured sense of identity but the chilling reason she’s always felt like she didn’t belong.

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Director’s Statement:

Alienated was born from a dream that refused to let me go. That dream sent me spiraling into years of UFO research and down a rabbit hole I never expected to go down.

Alienated explores the disconnect between how we appear to others and who we really are. The story follows Luna, a teen who feels like she doesn’t belong—until she discovers she’s literally an alien. It’s a coming-of-age tale that mixes magical realism, sci-fi, and dramedy, because adolescence itself is equal parts surreal, terrifying, and ridiculous. This theme of hidden identity also resonates with the film’s female minority lead, whose complexities defy easy labels. I shot with low, off-kilter angles and a bold, eclectic soundtrack to mirror that disorientation.

Making the film was its own adventure. We filmed the dream scene on a pirate ship I found on an Airbnb rental, shooting it out in the ocean. It sounded like a great idea until the waves hit, and half the crew got seasick and had to vomit over the rails between takes. The seals, however, loved it and gave us priceless added production value.

I hope that misfits of all ages—those who’ve been told they are “too much” or “not enough” find healing in Luna’s journey. This film is my reminder: you belong.