Being forgotten by those they love, especially as they grapple with horrifying circumstances that threaten their well-being, is a terrifying experience for anyone. But the feelings of isolation and dismay are heightened for people as they grow older, and feel as though they have no outlet for hope or chances to improve their situation. That’s certainly the case for the protagonist of Chester in the new short horror film, ‘The Looming.’

The psychological thriller offers a horrific glimpse into aging and the fear that accompanies it. ‘The Looming’ follows Chester, a 70-year-old man who may be experiencing the onset of a decline in his cognitive abilities, as he begins hearing strange noises in his home. Although he seeks help, his concerns get dismissed by others, especially his daughter, who rejects his plea to come see him. But, when his home’s virtual audio assistant Luna, detects the sounds, Chester is in for the biggest surprise of all – the noises may not be a symptom of dementia after all.

The movie was written, directed and produced by Masha Ko. The drama stars Joseph Lopez in the role of Chester, as well as Kolten Horner, Brianne Buishas and Alyssa Nicole.

‘The Looming,’ which has a runtime of 15 minutes, played in the Midnight Short Film Program at last month’s Sundance Film Festival. During the festival, Ko won the Short Film Special Jury Prize for Directing the psychological thriller.

Ko generously took the time before ‘The Looming’ had its Sundance Premiere Screening on January 22 at The Ray Theatre in Park City to talk about making the project during an exclusive interview over Zoom. Among other things, she discussed why she was driven to pen the script for the movie; how she approached helming the drama during the production, which included casting and rehearsing with Lopez; and what it means to her that the short screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

The interview began with Ko explaining what inspired her to scribe the script for the thriller. “The process was kind of interesting. There were a couple inspirations behind this film. But I think that the main one was that my grandfather passed from COVID. His mental health was declining at the same time, due to dementia,” she revealed.

“He ended up passing in isolation because he had COVID and nobody was allowed to be with him. That was during the beginning of COVID,” the writer revealed.

“So I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. So I made this film to find meaning in all of this. I also wanted to talk about the real horrors that exist in life, which I think includes losing yourself as well as passing in isolation. So that’s why I decided to make the film,” Ko continued.

“Then I decided to blend these two genres – horror and drama – to make a case that reality can oftentimes be scarier than any monster out there. I almost wish that at the end of the film, people would think that, oh, I wish that the monster was real. Then, at least, Chester, our lead, wouldn’t be alone. That was the main goal behind the film,” the filmmaker also divulged.

“Another goal that I had, in the way of how I shot, colored and designed it, was to make it beautiful somehow because the reality wasn’t so prety. I think film is such an incredible medium in being able to present a difficult topic in a way that’s digestible to people. I think beauty and aesthetics play a part of creating a safe container to talk about something very difficult,” Ko added.

Further speaking about how she was able to blend the horror elements with the relatable the struggles of aging in the movie, the filmmaker then shared how she was able to find the right balance between the story’s main two topics. “It was very challenging to find the right balance. But I think the way I did it, I was just kind of keeping my finger on the pulse of the story, and just passing it through myself and feeling it,” she noted.

“I was always thinking and trying to be aware of my feelings. I was always aware if they were swaying too much into the horror direction or too much into the drama direction,” Ko divulged.

“I was trying to keep it balanced for most of the time to make the case that I spoke about earlier. I also wanted to keep the audience on their toes and to introduce elements that are unexpected inside both of the horror and drama genres,” the filmmaker revealed with a laugh.

Besides penning the script, Ko also cherished having the opportunity to direct the movie. “It was it was very interesting. I mean, we had a very, very low budget., so this was entirely self-produced. It was also produced with the help of my friends, of course, who let us borrow their equipment,” she divulged.

“A lot of friends came to set for free just to help. It definitely wouldn’t be possible without all those people involved. So I’m extremely lucky to have all those people involved,” the filmmaker admitted.

“It was certainly challenging, as our ambitions were very high and our resources were low. But I think because we all felt the story somehow, as it spoke to us, we were able to overcome very big challenges that were linked to the limit of our resources,” Ko added.

Further speaking about producing ‘The Looming’ on a limited budget, the filmmaker then delved into what her experience was like of being able to both produce and helm the drama during the production. She shared with a laugh, “Well, I was the main producer on the film, so I could say that for me, it was very difficult to direct a film that you produce.”

With another laugh, Ko laughed, “So moving forward, I hope that I don’t produce the films that I direct. In order to produce, you have to step out of this creative zone and then put a producer head on. You then kind of talk from a very different standpoint.

“Sometimes there are contradictions between the creative side and all the logistics. Finding that balance, especially inside of one person, was difficult. I felt like there was constantly an inner war inside of me between those two roles,” the filmmaker divulged.

“But some, some people did help produce a lot. As a result of it being challenging to produce everything myself, I’ve had some people who stepped in later in the process who became incredible producers,” Ko gushed about her producing collaborators.

“Working with them was amazing. They gave this relief and allowed me to focus on the creative process going into the production. So it was absolutely fabulous. It was just friends who came together and made this, basically. So we were all in it together, even with all the challenges that came from it. It felt good to conquer those challenges,” the filmmaker added with a laugh.

Following up on the visuals that appear in the short, Ko then delved into what her experience was like working with the project’s director of photography, Andrey Nikolaev, in order to create the visual aspects. “I’ve known, this DP, Andrey, for a while, as we worked on some other projects together. But I wasn’t a director – I worked as a choreographer – for one project that we did together that went to (the) Tribeca (Film Festival),” she shared.

“But we’ve really aligned as creatives. With him, I feel like we almost have a telepathic connection and communication when it comes to what we want,” the filmmaker further gushed about her experience collaborating with Nikolaev.

“We have the same kind of understanding and care for the story and the same sensibilities in style. So that really helped. It was absolutely remarkable to work with him. It was seamless,” Ko added with a laugh.

The helmer then delved into how she chose the location in Los Angeles where she wanted to shoot ‘The Looming.’ “The location was basically an Airbnb that we found, and we convinced the owner to allow us to shoot the film there. Since we had limited resources, we didn’t, have the resources to build anything,” she revealed.

“It was important to me to have it be an old house. That way we could create this contrast between the new technology, especially the at home audio assistant, Luna, and the rest of the home, which is almost a reflection of our character,” Ko added.

“Certain colors were very important to me, as well. I wanted to have a lot of greens in there because green typically is the color that communicates sickness,” the filmmaker continued.

“So I wanted to create a certain mood. Thankfully we found an Airbnb that already had a lot of characteristics we wanted. But we, of course, tweaked it, which included changing some furniture and colors around. But thankfully a lot was already there, and we didn’t have to build anything. So it really worked out,” Ko noted.

Besides the visuals in the film, the score was also important to create the mood in the story. The director then delved into how she created the sounds for the project.

“That’s a great question,” Ko stated. “I am very big on sound design. I think that it is truly the sound that makes things very scary. Try watching a horror film without the sound, and then you won’t be as scared anymore.

“That’s especially true in this film because it’s a slow burn. (Spoiler Alert) We don’t see the monster until the very end,” the filmmaker revealed. (End Spoiler Alert)

“So I had to really focus on making sure that we could build that arc of intensity through sound alone. So we worked really hard with the sound designer (Jamie Hardt) to do that,” Ko noted.

“I think a very interesting element of the sound was that some sounds I made myself. The first time we really hear the monster was when our lead goes up the stairs. There was no sound that really created that. So I decided to just start scratching my skin myself, and I just recorded all these sounds,” the helmer recalled.

“But another interesting thing about the sound is that in order to reflect dementia, I wanted to have the sounds of the monster come from real sounds. In my experience, people who hear things that are not there hear it from the things that are already in their environment,” Ko divulged.”

“So that’s why the first time we hear the drain sound in the shower scene, we merged vocal sounds that replicate the sound of the actual thing we’re trying to create. We did that throughout the film,” the filmmaker shared.

“So we basically vocally recreated the sounds of the environment, like the sound of the drain, the wind and even the chair being moved when he stands up. We recorded that vocally and put that sound in there. It’s very subconscious, and some of it you can’t hear. I do think it creates an aura of this eerie experience, because replicating something through voice is always a little eerie,” Ko continued.

“The composer also did a wonderful job in driving the drama and the horror beats. I think that’s also a very specific quality that you’re able to compose for both (horror and drama). Devin Johnson, our composer, did a wonderful job doing that,” the director added.

With ‘The Looming’ being a character-driven horror thriller, the actors who Ko cast also played a major part in driving the tension and drama. The filmmaker then delved into what the casting process was like for the movie.

“I already knew the actor who played Chester, Joseph Lopez, before I even wrote the short,” Ko admitted with a laugh. “I actually cast him as an extra in a music video when I was working in casting. So I just thought right away that he had a very special look that would fit this film.

“Then as I was writing the short, I was thinking about him. Then when I finished writing it, I asked him to send in a tape just to make sure that he could embody this type of character, and he was able to do that. We then further developed the character through rehearsals,” the scribe also shared.

“He’s an incredibly hard-working person and immensely talented. So I was definitely very lucky to work with him,” Ko added.

With ‘The Looming’ having just premiered in the short film program at Sundance last month, the filmmaker shared her gratitude that the project played at the festival. “It’s been absolutely remarkable. Sundance truly does what it stands for; it supports indie filmmakers in ways that I’ve never experienced before,” she noted.

“I’ve been a other festivals, as this short also played at other festivals; it played at Screamfest in L.A. But getting accepting into Sundance is an absolute dream, not only because of the community of incredible filmmakers who truly push the boundaries, innovate, and share their bold and diverse stories, but also because of the support that the Sundance team gives you,” Ko gushed about the festival.

“I truly feel like my life is changing as we speak as a result of getting into Sundance. I think a lot of filmmakers who are at Sundance for the first time also feel that way. So I’m definitely very grateful to the festival,” the filmmaker concluded.