The Perfect Orchid, con Mark Ryder e Diarmuid Noyes

Michael’s most recent film, The Perfect Orchid, is a neo-noir western, set ten years in the future. Shot in Joshua Tree on super 16MM, it focusses on the opioid crisis in America. The blending of society’s current problems set in the near future with the traditional sense a Western implies was an intriguing concoction for the filmmaker. Driscoll admits that he’s always wanted to make a Western, and setting the action in the near future allowed him to bridge a gap between concrete reality while avoiding the sometimes distracting elements of Sci-Fi productions. Set in the late 2020’s, the opioid crisis has put America into chaos. Government funding has been cut, causing the hospitals to be overrun and addicts becoming more desperate. Deep in the Californian desert, in Joshua Tree where many have hailed the region’s apparent spiritual vortex, sanctuaries have been established to care for those who need it. These sanctuaries have developed their own small communities, entirely cut off from the outside world, with no internet, no TV, and no toxins of any kind. A zero tolerance policy towards alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, even caffeine or sugar exists in these communities. At the Orchid Sanctuary, a rundown converted ranch in the middle of nowhere, a young detective is brought in to investigate the mysterious death of one of the patients. As he learns more of the environment, he inadvertently causes a disturbance in the community. As the plot evolves, we obtain a premonition of where current events may take us.