Award-winning student filmmaker from Banbury directs new horror film

Laura Makai, who is in her last year of film production, has started work on her final project at the university, a short psychological horror called "Mama’s Boy."

Throughout her time studying, the young filmmaker has directed and worked on many different film genres, from experimental to documentary.

Some of Laura’s pieces have earned nominations and awards, with the most recent being a nomination and a craft award for the design of her documentary "The Journey You’ll Take" at the Royal Television Society's West of England Student Awards.

Talking about her new film, which is based on the Oedipus complex and a mother’s jealousy of her son’s girlfriend that ends in an unexpected twist, Laura said: "I wrote this script over a year ago, and it’s grown quite close to my heart.

"I wanted to challenge myself with my graduation piece, and as I have been enjoying horror lately with films like Silence of the Lambs or newer releases like Fresh and Midsommar, so I thought I’d give it a go."

"I wanted to create something that makes people truly uncomfortable. To create an entertaining and horrifying experience without having to show much gore. So, I focused on a very uncomfortable topic and dialled it down to what my brain decided was the worst-case scenario".

The production of this film will start in late April. Meanwhile, the project is looking for supporters for donations to help bring this film to life. Laura and the team behind Mama’s Boy have created a Kickstarter fundraising page and have been awarded a project we love badge from the website due to the creativity of the project.

Laura added: "Part of our university assignment and a huge part of filmmaking is working with a budget. So, we started a Kickstarter campaign to help us meet our goal. We have gifts for all different sizes of donations, from signed scripts and photos to credits and more. We would appreciate any support towards our final film at university."

For more information or to support the project, visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mamasboyfilm/mamas-boy-0