Melt

Stella’s life was on ice until Frosty arrived and the competition got hot.

Melt

It’s a searing summer, in a faltering country town. A travelling ice-sculptor charms Stella, and her friends into sexual competition that melts lifelong loyalties with tragic consequences. Stella must re-examine her hidden aspirations and strike out for herself.

Attached Cast

STELLA                    Rachael Taylor

JOJO                         Adrienne Pickering

MIMI                          Veronica Sywak

GEORDIE                 Tye Harper

Crew

Writer/ Director          Sofya Gollan

Producer                    Della Churchill

Designer                    Elizabeth Mary Moore

DoP                           Jules O’Laughlin

Budget:                  A$ 3,000,000

 Genre:                   Erotic Drama, Feature Film.

Status:                   Financing, Developed by Screen NSW and Screen Australia

Synopsis

At 23, Stella’s still a virgin, an oddity in her small country town. Her friends, sisters Mimi and Jojo, take turns to seduce strangers, while Stella dances around Geordie’s passion for her, fearing a relationship that will keep her stuck. Jojo hides her unrequited love for Geordie, whilst fun-loving alcoholic Mimi pretends she’s not near breaking point.

Stella’s been hired to create dresses for the local rich girl’s wedding.. By day she’s a butcher running the family business, by night she looks after her ailing Nan, her dreams of being a fashion designer withering under the weight of obligation.

Then Frosty Clyde comes to town, the sensual and charismatic ice sculptor hired for the wedding. He invites them all to be his models for the ice bride. Gatecrashing the status quo, Stella wants him, and the sisters reluctantly agree she can have him. However, when Stella fumbles the seduction of Frosty, the sisters, separately and secretly, jump the queue into Frosty’s willing arms, agreeing to keep their assignations quiet. Unknowing Stella pursues Frosty  exhilarated by Frosty’s ideas of freedom.

Stella accuses the sisters of disloyalty, and the girls abandon their friendships rather than admit their truths. Shunned by the sisters, forced to refuse Geordie’s dramatic marriage proposal and oppressed by her bullying dependent Nan, Stella explodes, accepting Frosty’s offer of flight. Stella loses her virginity but even with first-love’s blinkers on, she discovers that Frosty’s sophistication is a smokescreen and his ambition is as small as drifting from job to job.

Rejecting Frosty, Stella turns back home to make amends and strike out on her own.. Stella must reconcile with Geordie, whilst standing up to her family. In the final moments we see Stella backstage at her graduating  student show, sexually assured and in charge of her own future.

Director Sofya Gollan’s showreel: