Red (Emma Ho) and Blue (Ian Ho) have grown up together in isolation, living in a controlled environment and watched over by the all-seeing, all-knowing, disembodied ‘Papa’ (voiced by director Casey Walker). Everything they need is catered for; food is delivered ready to be microwaved, a video tape featuring an episode of a sterile puppet show called Barn is provided for them to watch while they eat, before being deposited back into a compartment in the wall, ready for the routine to be repeated the following day. Their only restrictions are simple rules: do not harm one another and do not damage the property. Unfortunately, one day while playing their monotonous game of catch, Red breaks a window, causing them to fear Papa’s wrath, something Blue carries a scar from. It’s not all mundane; every so often they awake to Noel, in which their living space is decorated with a tree, and they have presents. (With no time scale to judge, and with Papa wishing them a “forty-second Noel”, it could even be monthly). However, one gift is out of the ordinary. It’s a fully grown person, who Papa tells them they should look after. Pal (Ess Hödlmoser) creates a wedge between the siblings, especially when Red catches him watching a video that’s unlike anything in their Barn. Blue’s resentment leads him to commit an act that will shatter their world.

With its sleek design and impressive world-building, Home Bodies is essentially a futuristic Garden of Eden, with the mute, naïve Pal acting as the temptation that causes the ultimate original sin, which then progresses to a Cain and Abel scenario. Writers Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan fill the story with coming-of-age allegories and existential threat. Director Walker gets fantastic performances from the young cast, with Hödlmoser standing out as the enigmatic yet creepy Pal. The one location and early repetition help build an unsettling atmosphere that evokes films like THX 1138 (which is given a nod at one point) and Moon. It takes a terrifying look at the nature/nurture of children and the ethics of scientific study; the conclusion makes us as complicit as Papa. One of the most impressive sci-fi films of recent years.

HOME BODIES screened at Tubi FrightFest.