DIRECTOR STATEMENT
My name is Robert Aaron Mitchell, and for the past year, I have been crafting this cinematic experience. First and foremost, the movie should speak for itself, or I have failed as a filmmaker. That being said, perhaps a little context is not a bad thing.
I live in Dilley, Texas, which is a small town in South Texas that is the location of one of the largest detention centers in the United States of America. Its primary purpose is to incarcerate families. As of this writing on June 13, 2026, over five hundred babies have been imprisoned here. This place is run by the for-profit corporation Core Civic. The Orwellian name of this place is the South Texas Family Residential Center. In actuality, it is a concentration camp to enrich shareholders. I live next door to this monstrosity.
I think a lot about evil. I also think about a phrase that is uttered many times, “This is not us.” These four words negate a 250-year history of the United States of America. This is us. We live, operate, and benefit from the machine and systems of cruelty of this country.
My motivation in crafting this cinematic experience was my attempt to stay sane so I can assist people who are being devastated by the United States of America, so I can continue to decolonize my mind as well as continue the work of dismantling the systems of cruelty I live in. I am a lifelong student of Midnight Movies, and with all earnestness, I have done my best to craft a film worthy to be called weird. The movie is ultimately about complicity.