Alien Rose (2006)

Directed by Virginia Toddy Burton
Written by Toddy Burton and Liz Phang
Featuring Lee Eddy, Chris Sullivan, Janet Kimlicko, Steve Wright, Harper Vickery. Aidan Travis, Juliana Nichols, Joe Ellett, Paul Reyes
2006, 16 minutes

In 1995, when she was a little girl, the Aliens promised Rose that they would come and get her the night of April 1, 2003. For eight long years she has been dreaming for the moment that she'll soar with her extraterrestrial friends across the galaxy in a space ship. Unfortunately, this is the very day that her mother decides enough is enough, and that Rose belongs in a mental institution...

Using both 16mm and video, Toddy Burton's film is a charming, funny, and bittersweet story about a very sensitive young woman with lofty daydreams. Rose doesn't look, act, or behave the way her parents want her to. 'I'll wear what you want. I'll try to make friends', Rose pleads with her parents, as they drive her to the institution. But its obvious to even the viewer that Rose is one of those people who can't be anything but herself. She's too encapsulated in her own romantic visions of 'Aliens' to be a part of the regular world. Once there Rose, desperate, makes a last-ditch effort to escape and meet up with the Aliens, on this day, her one and only chance to prove that they really are coming for her. She waits, appropriately, on a satellite dish, staring up at the stars, until Rose herself realizes that the Aliens may only have been part of her imagination.

What makes Rose crazy in the eyes of her parents is that she surrounds herself only with what she loves; things that remind her of her alien friends. Her room at home is covered with pictures and posters of space, UFO's, mobiles of the solar system; even her sheets are covered in a star pattern. Burton's story is not so much about aliens and abduction as it is about one woman's struggle to keep the love of her family and her integrity. It's also about disappointment; in one's parents and in one's hopes, but Rose finds an unlikely ally in her little brother, who ultimately helps her when it seems like everyone else has abandoned her.

Surprisingly, Alien Rose is filled with musical numbers and choreography, more like The Rocky Horror Picture Show than a run-of-the-mill oddball coming-of-age-story. These songs add a sense of humor to an otherwise depressing storyline. The scenes between Rose and her mother, and when Rose is at the mental institution, are disturbing and eerie. The fantastical costumes and music make for a stark comparison.

Lee Eddy's performance as Rose, and Mitchell Robe's quirky and beautiful soundtrack make this film a worthwhile venture for anyone who loves to be entertained by something truly original.

An interesting side note, Toddy Burton is also a film critic for the Austin Chronicle. But that's not the most amazing thing about her. She's gone through some pretty amazing personal trials, and she's making a film entitled The Aviatrix that chronicles the struggle of a woman to overcome her cancer through her alter-ego, a superhero with power over t-cells and tumors. The Austin Film Society funded the film. Toddy is also working on a film entitled Anorexic Girls with Guns. Pretty/Scary approves of Toddy Burton.