GreetYourDemons
Greet Your Demons
"They're waiting for you."
Greet Your Demons is the story of a troubled girl, Helena, who is in a coma. She wakes up, in her mind, and is greeted by a 'spirit guide,' Sharón, who leads her on a journey of self-discovery, where she must come face to face with the seven personal demons that have plagued her for her entire life...
A Fantastical Feature Film about Fate
Only when we face are greatest fears can we ascend.
Helena is barely hanging on to life, as she’s in a coma. With her corporeal form essentially shackled to her bed, her mind awakes. She wanders through her parents’ home to find herself in an odd, metaphysical realm. Here she meets Sharón, an alluring woman who introduces herself as Helena’s guide. Sharón inquires about what lead to Helena’s present condition, but Helena can not recall the actual incident. Nevertheless, Sharón will help free Helena from her current state of unconsciousness. Helena believes she is dreaming at first, but opts to listen to this compelling messenger.
Sharón explains that in order for Helena to be freed of this mental prison, she has to deal with the demons that have plagued her throughout her entire life. Sharón and Helena watch specific moments from Helena’s past play out, where each demon first presented itself. Helena witnesses her child-self tell a fib for the first time; enter, the Lying Demon. This entity, like all the others that will follow, is eerie and unsettling, but has an irresistible quality that Helena has been drawn to. Next there are the demons of Shame, Desire, Self-Harm, Guilt, and Rage. Each one of these is more potent than the next, and Helena has an increasingly difficult time trying to make peace with them. In fact, they often attempt to harm her, as they are fighting for their own “lives.” Whenever Helena is injured in this bizarre world, her physical body endures a degree of suffering. She begins having seizures, and the Doctor that has been called to the house tells Helena’s parents that this spells the near-end for the frail Helena.
Helena now has one last demon to encounter: the demon of Self-Loathing. Unlike the others, which manifest in various creature forms, this demon is a mirror image of Helena. After witnessing the flashbacks of its involvement in Helena’s life, Helena is confronted with a bitter truth: the real reason why she is in this coma. Buoyed by Sharón’s encouragement, Helena will now see if she is strong enough for this final test.
Film Info
Original Title:
Greet Your Demons
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2024
Premiere: Thilsri International Film Festival
Running Time: 104 minutes
CREDITS
Executive Producer: Joyce Benza
Director: Joe Leone
Composer: Kevin JP Hulihan
Editor: Elias Connolly
Sound Designer: Kevin JP Hulihan
Producer: Joe Leone
Special FX Makeup: Solange Noboa
Video FX: Vyacheslav Karpov
Graphic Design: Paula Cunha
Special Thanks: Abhaya Yoga Studio, Entertainment Technology Inc.
Main Characters
HELENA - Helena is clever, witty, spunky, intelligent, and good-hearted. She is also full of shame, guilt, often dishonest, rage-full, and engages in dangerous, self-destructive behavior. Clearly a complicated person, she has struggled her whole life to carve out a true identity for herself. Unfortunately, this has been a nearly impossible task. She was raised in a middle-upper class neighborhood by caring parents (her mother, a religious zealot, a bit overbearing at times), and has lead a seemingly normal existence. Her problems are all internal, however. She’s had an eating disorder, intentionally hurt herself, often can’t express herself, and ultimately doesn’t possess the self-confidence she needs to move forward positively. She’s largely eschewed professional help in lieu of “self-medicating,” to dismal results. After an unremarkable college experience, she struck out on her own, only to fail miserably and have to return home to live. In this environment, her issues have flourished. This is why she is in the condition she presently finds herself in: a coma.
SHARÓN - Sharón is a strikingly gorgeous, enigmatic French woman. She is also a classic figure from Greek mythology (just in a slightly different form than described in the ancient tales). She is a great educator, in that she helps lead her pupils to the correct answer by letting them utilize their own intellect and intuition. Obviously a mysterious figure, she can at times come across as maddeningly cryptic, but this is all part of her calculated agenda. While her exact origins can not be determined, she clearly possesses a worldly knowledge, and seems to have existed for quite some time. Sharón is not exactly human, but she can exhibit genuine humanity in spades. Her motives are inextricably linked to successfully fulfilling the tasks of her “profession” - yet her raison d’être is not limited to this. She wants to make a connection with her students, and truly let them see the light.
Main Cast
Remiara Eve (Arabella) - Remi is a dynamic actress with a an indomitable spirit. She has starred in the feature films Asgaya Part 1 - The Sheut, and Asgaya Part 2 - The Ib. With Parched Productions, she played the lead roles of Arabella in the award-winning Death Sentences and Ligeia in Parched 2: Hangry, had a small pivotal part in Blood Falls, and was also the lead role in the short film Invite Only, which has over one and a half million views on YouTube.
Adrienne Laurén (Sharón) - Adrienne is a very dedicated and passionate actress and model. She has starred in the features My Last Best Friend, Maternal, Raveland, Red Night, and many more.
Robert J Morgalo (Rage Demon) is an award-winning actor, director, producer, screenwriter and published author (The Mick and The Trick, Law & Order). He is the grandson of renowned Cuban actor and poet, Jorge Raul Guerrero. Robert is a retired US Army Iraq War veteran. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies from American Military University and a Master of Arts in Diplomacy from Norwich University.
Asel Otunchieva (Self-Harm Demon) hails from a small country bordering Europe and Asia. She has appeared in numerous shorts, tv series and films, such as One More Photo Please (2019), and has previously appeared in the Parched Production features in lead roles in Breakup Mountain (2022) and Parched 2: Hangry (2019).
Arina Oz (Raga Demon) is an American actress who has appeared in a numerous commercials, television series, and independent films. She has gained her fame for her work on Escargot (2021), A Good Cop (2021), Greet Your Demons (2021) and music video "All about you" - Knocks feat. Foster The People (2020), In 2023, Arina is going to portray Zora in "Guinea Pig". Born on October 14, 1995, Arina Oz hails from Chapel Hill, United States. She studied Fine Arts at Pratt and had scholarship at SVA.
Kerwin Johnson Jr. (Tym) - Recognized for his powerhouse performance in Naz & Malik, he is the winner of the Outfest 2015 Critics’ Choice Award. Other film work includes Viral Beauty, with notable stage credits Why Must I Hurt You and Grandma Remembers. Kerwin's turn as Ralph in Parched earned him a Best Actor nomination at the 2017 Independent Horror Awards. He also portrayed Bradley in Reap.
Angelica Arroliga (Self-Hate Demon) has brought several unforgettable characters to life in the Parched Productions universe. She played the sarcastic wild child Cici in Parched, and then the devout, mild-mannered Stephanie in Reap. She has appeared in several other features and is excited to show the world her subtly evil entity in Greet Your Demons.
Richard K Baylor (Guilt Demons) is a highly experienced character actor. He was born in Los Angeles, and grew up in Texas. He has appeared in two dozen films, television shows, and videos. He also played another frighteningly real character in the Parched Production Scarred to Death.
Crew
Joyce Benza - Executive Producer
Joyce is a former school teacher and office manager who threw herself whole-heartedly into the film world when she co-produced Parched and Reap, and then executive produced Breakup Mountain and Scarred to Death. Greet Your Demons is especially close to her heart, as it was filmed in her own home.
Joe Leone - Director/Writer
Joe has written and directed the features Reap, Parched, Parched 2: Hangry, Parched 3: Beached, Breakup Mountain, Death Sentences, and Scarred to Death. He has also co-written Death of a Fool (Winner, BlueCat Screenplay Competition, Best Feature 2018), Meant to Be Broken (Sydney Independent Film Festival, Best Screenplay, 2019), Layers of Lies, Muna, and Half Sisters.
David Smadja - Cinematographer
David was born in Paris, France, on the 8th of December 1987. He has two sisters. He moved to the United States when he was 18 for studies. Passionate about film, he studied at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, CA. He has various upcoming projects, including video clips, documentaries, shorts, and the tv series he directed Two Minutes to Midnight.
Kevin JP Hulihan - Composer
Kevin JP is a New York based multi-instrumentalist, producer, sound designer and composer who thrives on creating sounds and music that assist in the emotive unfolding of a story. His projects include film scores co-executive production, and shorts. He's written, recorded and performed music for over thirty years.
Elias Connolly - Editor
Elias attended Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont and received his BFA in Film Making. He fine tuned the post-production aspect of his craft at The Edit Center in Brooklyn, New York. Since then he has worked as an editor in various capacities on narrative, documentary, and corporate media of both short and feature length films, including Reap.
Paula Cunha - Art Director
Paula is an accomplished graphic designer from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She attended Universidada Estadual Paulista (UNESP) and holds a degree in graphic and visual design. She has worked in the design departments of Tilibra Meadwest Vaco and Editora Also Astral. Paula has lent her art direction and graphic skills to several projects with Parched Productions.
Smriti Rana - Production Manager
Smriti has lived on three different continents, and worked for various creative agencies such as Edelman in New York City, Facebook, Agentur XY, Fuse Manchester and MediaMonks in Berlin. She was the production manager on Parched 2: Hangry.
Vyacheslav Karpov - VFX Editor
Vyacheslav is highly experienced video effects artist known for Sverkhkinzhal (2021), Protege Moi (2023) and The Lady of the Lake (2024)
Film Festivals
Athvikvaruni International Film Festival
2024 - Winner, September Feature Award
Thilsri International Film Festival
2024 - Winner, Best International Feature
Photo Gallery
