A young woman tosses in her sleep. She mindlessly flips TV channels. She reads, trying to pass the time. She lies in bed, staring at the ceiling, when suddenly she begins to fall.

In a classroom, she struggles to concentrate. The words from a lesson projected on-screen start to rearrange themselves. She glances to see if anyone notices this.

We fall into a hardware store. The young woman stares at the security camera above her. A cluster of TV screens all show her face. Her eyes dart from screen to screen, paranoid.

In her kitchen now, she swirls with delusion, her mind racing uncontrollably.

In an inpatient ward, she stares blankly at a TV. The nurse turns it off, and…

The young woman falls helplessly through a void.

A call to action appears, urging psychiatrists to take early, comprehensive action to prevent the decline they’ve just witnessed.

Directors’ Statement: “We wanted to capture the clear decline of a patient wrestling with schizophrenia—from early onset to full psychosis. Because of the sensitivity of the illness, we drew heavily from both our own experiences with our mother as well as research so the film wouldn’t feel siloed. One critical factor for us was not wanting to show someone being “crazy,” as this further perpetuates mental illness stigma and prevents any compassion or understanding. We wanted to see her as a person first so that we could understand her illness second. Our primary goal was to put the viewer in her shoes as she experiences varying levels of decompensation; using the camera to physically descend with her until she finally sinks into the void. Through camera movement, sound design, color, and score, we wanted to relate to her restlessness, identify with her anxiety, and empathize with her illness.”

This work was reviewed throughout development by our client’s PARC committee, an internal team of medical, legal, and regulatory advisors. They ensured our film made no mention, representation, or suggestion of any specific drug or drug class, per the latest draft guidance from the FDA on disease awareness communications.

Our target audience for this work is practicing psychiatrists in the United States. The film and its message are relevant to these specific healthcare professionals because they are actively treating schizophrenia patients in a variety of care settings, including private practice, inpatient units, and community mental health clinics.