The film follows an outcast who isolates himself from society to practice alchemy, but as his mind deteriorates, his chemistry turns to black magic[1].

Sean’s simple lifestyle is centered on experimenting with various chemicals and substances according to an old alchemy book, with seemingly no success, though there are mysterious sounds from the forest.

The resupply of Sean’s pills cannot be found; Cortez refuses to make another three hour round trip to retrieve them from his home.

He goes out onto the lake on his rowboat, where he proclaims that he intends to summon a demon that night, which he will give whatever it wants, including his body and teeth.

That night, he makes a fire and calls out to "Belial", saying he repents his human form, and reads Latin from his book of alchemy.

That night, Sean is burning his papers on alchemy when Cortez stumbles over, covered in blood and eyes glowing.

Crying, shaking, and seemingly insane, he smashes his head into a mirror until it shatters, drinks chemicals from test tubes, and eats the raw organs of the dead possum.

The cast only contains two human characters starring Ty Hickson as Sean and Amari Cheatom as Cortez.

The cast is notable as it consists of only African American actors, a conscious choice to “take the white people out of the movie” by the director Joel Potrykus.

This initial idea eventually evolved into the script for the film of a weird guy in the woods practising alchemy.

Potrykus listened to Come on Pilgrim by the Pixies during production of the film and Sean even quotes some lyrics in the movie.

[3] On the first day of filming, prior to first meeting Ty Hickson, Potrykus was very nervous, and after taking an anxiety pill he passed out.

[3] Ty Hickson and Amari Cheatom were initially unfamiliar with Potrykus’ directing style and so this took some period of adjustment.

Potrykus explores this through the voices, shapes and sounds in the forest which "visually suggest the tangled shadows in Sean’s head.

[2] Potrykus further leans into this by disrupting the concept of time and space, removing the conventional ties to reality.

[4] The eccentric and erratic behaviour of the protagonist Sean emphasise the mental turmoil and cause the film to venture into the realm of a psychological horror.

[9] Furthermore, Potrykus explores the causes and the way that mental health is treated by society, stating that it is difficult to know what an individual may be escaping from in life.

[2] This separation into chapters gives the film a disjointed feel in regard to its scenes and dialogue and makes it near plotless.