What would you do to get rid of a bad memory? In retro sci-fi mindbender “Neuro” by first-time director Wes Ellis, the cost may be too high.
An alumnus of legendary Austin online studio Rooster Teeth, Ellis spoke with the Chronicle ahead of his debut at South by Southwest about how his family history informed the story, his love of head trip cinema, and the film’s unexpected connection to Oppenheimer.
Austin Chronicle: “Neuro” evokes the era of ’70s psycho-science fiction, where the most terrifying idea was how much unseen forces could mess with your brain while claiming they were making you “better.” Were there any particular cinematic influences?
Wes Ellis: Hard to ignore the obvious influences of George Lucas’ THX 1138 and all of Kubrick’s filmography, especially 2001/The Shining. These films are so intertwined with my love of the visual art of cinema. Some other influences include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the documentary footage of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, and some random 1960s documentaries I found on YouTube. I’m a huge fan of the overall visual aesthetic of 1960s and 1970s sci-fi… it feels hopeful and haunting at the same time. It’s also just kind of beautiful.
AC: At the same time, there have been a lot of throwback, faux ’70s movies that have shaped people’s perceptions of the era. How did you differentiate between what the films of the era really looked like versus the version people have got used to?
WE: I’ve spent a lot of my professional career obsessing over replicating eras through photography. Most of the time, this is done with leaning away from the broad clichés. Specifically for the ’70s, it’s easy to fall into wanting everything to feel groovy with shag carpet. To make something feel authentic to an era it’s important to look at everything from the dialogue, to the way films were lit, how actors were blocked within their scenes, how less polished everything felt. It all matters equally and plays a part in transporting the viewer to another era. We looked at Anna Biller’s The Love Witch as a huge source of inspiration for what’s possible in the modern era.
WE: Both my grandmothers experienced neurological complications. One of them had developed Alzheimer’s and the other had a brain tumor formed due to her lung cancer. Both extremely tragic experiences for my family. It really is what initially inspired me to write a story surrounding memory care. Anyone who has experienced a loved one going through the process of worsening dementia has probably begged for a cure. You know, I also shared a love of film with my grandmother. So it was a special thing to be able to take this really hard and real experience and create a world inspired by it. I’m excited to one day make the feature adaptation of this short as it really expands upon this idea of healing the mind.
AC: You made a point that you wanted to shoot this on 16mm, rather than simply emulating the look through digital effects. What were the pros and cons for you in picking celluloid?
WE: Man, film is just the most inspiring process. Not only does it provide such a beautiful aesthetic, it really tightens the filmmaking process. When you’re on set shooting something digitally you may be tempted to run a dozen takes because if you truly don’t like one you can just delete the file. With film you’re so limited by your footage. In our case, we had 3,600 feet to work with, which translates to about 100 minutes total. I feel like it created an environment on set that required focus from all cast and crew. Most importantly maybe, it forced me to know what I want and make bold decisions each day. Some scenes are just a single shot with a long zoom and I knew that if we started shooting additional coverage then we’d slow down and burn unnecessary film.
On the flip side, we did have a scare downloading one of the magazines of film after the shoot. I looked at the film and thought… You know, I’m not going to be able to stomach putting this in a box and shipping it to Los Angeles. So I rented a car and drove it there. Lots of pros and cons – I wouldn’t want it any other way!
AC: Back in 2024, you produced a proof of concept with your old Rooster Teeth colleague, Barbara Dunkelman. Aside from being able to visually explain the idea for your Seed & Spark campaign, was there anything you learned from that process that you were able to apply to the short?
WE: Absolutely. I didn’t go to film school and have learned everything through my experience at Rooster Teeth and experimenting with my friends. That proof of concept was my first real swing at making something with dialogue that I wrote showcasing this world I had been dreaming about for so many years. That two and half minute video we made also helped us get a lot of buy-in from cast and crew who could immediately see the vision and understand the tone. During that shoot we experimented with some era-specific techniques like the type of hard lighting and the style of zooms we used, as well as the exact film stock we later used on the longer film. I can’t express how formative that first shoot was to the production of our full short.
AC: I’m a Tiki obsessive, so I was immediately drawn to the exotica elements of the set dressing in the opening scene. Where did you find that room?
WE: I’m thrilled you’re asking about this because I am also a big fan of Tiki drinks and music. All the sets in the film were designed and built by our team. I collaborated closely with our production designer Phillip Rios to bring that midcentury Hawaii hotel room to life. During the writing process I was listening to a lot of Martin Denny so it felt fitting that our couple’s honeymoon-gone-wrong takes place at the hotel of my dreams. It also worked out nicely because it tied in well to our lionfish lore within the film. There’s also some deeper meaning behind the choice of heavy Tiki visuals and music – of which may spoil the film. I will say, though, that a fun Easter egg is that the Tiki bar prop in the hotel room was apparently used during the production of Oppenheimer … though I haven’t gone back to try to spot it myself.
Neuro
Texas Short Program, North American Premiere
Friday 7, 6:30pm, Hyatt RegencyMonday 10, 11am, Rollins Theatre
Catch up with all of The Austin Chronicle‘s SXSW 2025 coverage.
This article appears in March 7 • 2025.
