Let’s face it. The world’s a pretty dark place at the moment.
With a pandemic on the rise, extreme political division, and Twitter for all the moments in between, we’re certainly living in a time that could use more positivity and encouragement. So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I got the chance to see BEACHED, which was selected to have its world premiere at SXSW this year.
By now you’ve heard that the March dates for the 2020 SXSW festival have been canceled in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. There is no doubt this was a difficult decision, and I don’t envy those who had to make it. But while being good global citizens and protecting each other needs to be our focus, we should also keep promoting art and creativity even on our darkest days.
To that end, I recommend keeping an eye out for Nic Collins and Sean Godsey’s delightful BEACHED.
In BEACHED, Paige (Paige Klone) discovers that her girlfriend (Jenny Austin) has brought home a mysterious sea creature. He’s kinda creepy and more than a little noisy, but Paige’s girlfriend doesn’t seem to mind his moaning and chomping on shrimp cocktail. In fact, she seems to really like it.
As the couple begins to argue, the creature (Sean Godsey) becomes agitated and shoots liquid from a blow hole-like orifice. “I only ever want to fix problems,” he says to them. “But it seems I have become the problem.”
But is the creature really the source of this couple’s woe? As the fight reaches its irreversible conclusion, it may turn out that the well-intentioned Wail from the sea is the only one who can help.
Equal parts modern noir, superhero, and classic monster movie, BEACHED will bring a smile to your face despite all the world is throwing at you.
While the first three seven-minute episodes only begin to establish the world of the Wail, it’s clear that Collins and Godsey have a big story in store for their a-typical hero. And a-typical he is. With a bulbous head, black eyes, and pained, moaning speech, the Wail isn’t the hero you might imagine, but, if you’ll forgive the cliche, he might just be the hero we need.
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