Monolith (2022)

A young woman, THE INTERVIEWER, escapes to her parents’ isolated home after she is fired from her job as a writer for a respected newspaper over ethical concerns. Now, the only work she can get is for a clickbait podcast network. She hopes, though, that her show BEYOND BELIEVABLE can uncover some real truth in the world of unsolved mysteries.

When she receives an anonymous email directing her to contact a retired housekeeper named FLORAMAE, The Interviewer is told about a mysterious black brick that the woman claims to have received. This bizarre object had some strange sway over Floramae, delivering horrifying visions and crippling illness. Eventually, it was stolen by Floramae’s wealthy employers, who fired her and left her life in ruins. It all sounds like fanciful bullshit to The Interviewer, but with a little creative editing, she at least makes it sound plausible enough to ship a new episode in time for her deadline.

When the podcast absolutely blows up in popularity, and stories of these bricks crop up all over the globe, The Interviewer is stunned. Has she uncovered something real, or is she stoking the flames of modern conspiracy theory? Does she even care, when she’s this successful?

The Interviewer is safe in a world full of recordings and manipulated narrative – but when a package turns up at her door, her life is thrown into disarray. The package contains a video of The Interviewer’s own childhood birthday, twenty years earlier – in which she claims to have found a black brick. She doesn’t remember it, but the evidence is undeniable.

And so, The Interviewer spirals into madness as she begins to believe all the worst possibilities – vanishing persons, government cover ups, an alien intent behind these objects… a possible invasion. The Interviewer desperately attempts to control the story – but doing so only births something even stranger, and the realisation that this alien invasion may just be the beginning.