ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
Maribel has been mourning the tragic loss of her mother by secretly attending the funerals of strangers, but her inability to move on finally catches up with her.

SYNOPSIS
Maribel Muñoz gave up everything to take care of her sick mother—her job, her apartment, and her entire way of life. Paralyzed with grief after her passing and with nowhere else to turn, she throws herself into a perpetual state of mourning by secretly attending the funerals of strangers. Father Tomas, her local priest and a close family friend, quietly sits back and lets her invade his church in hopes that the pain of others will help her cope with the guilt, grief, and loneliness that she’s feeling.

Our story begins a few weeks after the passing of Maribel’s mother as she’s getting ready to attend a new funeral. By this point, several members of the church (deacons, ushers, the dioceses) have caught on to what she’s been doing, and Father Tomas is pressured into putting a stop to it. Maribel has overstayed her welcome, and he fully intends on this being the last funeral she attends.

After being persuaded by one of the family members to join them at the reception following today’s funeral service, Maribel finds herself playing with fire and on the verge of being caught while in the home of complete strangers.Through the panic of trying to wiggle her way out of this mess, along with the pressure she faces from Father Tomas, we closely follow Maribel as she wrestles with the prospect of finally moving on and leaving her life of lies, falsehoods, and faithless mourning behind.

PROJECT TYPE Narrative Short

DIRECTOR Merced Elizondo
SCREENWRITER Merced Elizondo
PRODUCER Helena Sardinha, Rafael Thomaseto, Alan Hodge
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Liz Cardenas, Andrea Marquez

WEBSITE mercedelizondo.com/bio