The Puppet Asylum
A 30-minute short film set in Victorian London, this is the first original commission of this scale written and directed by a person with Down Syndrome. It is an allegorical horror biopic written and directed by Otto Baxter as a reimagining of his own life, from birth to becoming his own master. The unpredictable tale, straight from Otto’s anarchic mind, charts Otto’s birth as a horned baby in a blood-splattered morgue, through his wayward teens, to his years in captivity in the ‘Puppet Asylum’. Fusing horror, dark comedy, an evocative soundtrack and a foul-mouthed ventriloquist’s dummy, The Puppet Asylum is a macabre story of a misunderstood child on a path to controlling their own life. The film’s stars include Paul Kaye, Rebecca Callard, Myanna Buring, with Dexter Fletcher and Adeel Akhtar, and score by Ed Harcourt.
The Guardian: "...a must watch"
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Screendaily: “Watched on its own, The Puppet Asylum is an impressive debut short; viewed in tandem with (the) documentary, it takes on a powerful psychological context.”
Sight & Sound: “Baxter absolutely qualifies for auteur status thanks to the way he channels autobiography into genre, using horror to raise personal issues” “Otto’s film is assured and effective” “An impressive debut”
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The Upcoming: “[This] history-making production is an impressive reclamation of power on multiple fronts....
The parallels between Baxter’s life story and his creative endeavour may be apparent to anyone watching The Puppet Asylum, but the context given in Otto Baxter: Not A F***ing Horror Story truly allows audiences to comprehend the entirety of what the young man is capable of.”
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Why Now: “A cult horror director in the making”.
