The Beauty of Disaster
SHORT FILM SYNOPSIS
Having special “powers” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – especially when your not-so-gifted sister decides to pick up on the hustling opportunity, and a really hot guy would like to send the two of you to jail. That’s at the heart of The Beauty of Disaster, a romantic comedy-drama with a twist of magic.
The 13-minute film revolves around CLAIRE, a straight-laced marketing executive with a secret handicap: she has bizarre psychic visions that often lead to big trouble. One day, on the streets of New York, she “sees” a very sexy, threatening detective, FRANKLIN. He makes Claire aware that her wayward sister, CLEO, has gotten herself in a hot mess that’s about to go nuclear.
Cleo doesn’t share her sister’s special gift, and beneath her mischievous exterior lies a soul in need of love and purpose. She tells Claire nothing is wrong, but Claire has a vision of what's going on: Cleo is using her skills as an actress to pose as a psychic. Cleo cons a tough old broad, BUNNY, out of an extremely valuable necklace by convincing Bunny she should hold onto it for spiritual protection.
Claire visits Cleo’s apartment in a state of fury. As Cleo tries to calm her sister down, Franklin bursts in and reveals that he’s Bunny’s son. Claire is at once extremely attracted to him and terrified as he threatens the sisters with a nice long stay in a prison hellhole unless they fork over the bling.
Claire promises him that she’ll extract the necklaces from the clutches of her lying sister. But Bunny, who suddenly realizes she’s been scammed, arrives and goes after Cleo like a lunatic, heat-seeking missile.
BEAUTY is about standing by certain relatives, even when you (and everyone else) think they’re nuts. And it’s about the unexpected beauty that can arise out of moments of pure catastrophe.
It was inspired by conversations with real-life psychics and the detectives who study their occasional scams. The film calls to mind movies like Silver Linings Playbook and Bridesmaids.