Halifax-based filmmaker Taylor Olson (What We Dreamed of Then; Look at Me; Bone Cage) returns to the festival with the world premiere of their first foray into genre filmmaking, a chilling psychological body horror anthology in which three isolated men submit to rituals of healing – an AI cleanse, a livestream of penance, and an experimental drug trial – each descending into madness as their pain becomes performance in a world obsessed with watching. Tackling themes of disordered eating, shame, and trauma, the film seeks to interrogate the decision behind the filming and broadcasting of extremely personal pain and struggle, and questions those on the other side who greedily devour and share this content to ever-widening networks. Written and directed by and starring Olson, who brings a tireless physicality and vulnerability to each of the three roles, and shot by Tim Mombourquette (To the Moon) with an all-Atlantic cast and crew, Stitches is a resolute, searing commentary on the bottomless appetite for consuming the suffering of others in the digital age.

A Q&A with director Taylor Olson will follow the film.