ABOUT
Logline:
A man experiencing a mental breakdown goes on an adventure helping a donut find it’s hole and in that journey he finds out what’s missing in himself.
Synopsis:
Existential Donut is a 2018 short film written and directed by Jason Pierre.
Gary is a man whose existence is defined by the ambiguous daily grind of work and sleep with no time to live or dream. His only source of joy is the coffee and donut he eats before he faces the day. But one day the donut comes to life, showing more drive and passion than Gary. He wants his hole back.
This film is a dark comedic drama that turns Los Angeles into a magical realist world that explores why we spend our lives chasing dreams that might not be our own.
Directors Statement:
I’d like to believe that everything has a voice and if they can’t vocalize it like the rest of humanity, at least they have a purpose. With Existential Donut, I was trying to create a world on the edge of our own with a nihilist view of reality.
Everyone has had that one job where they felt like a robot, doing a mindless task that requires them to drown in their work so deep they lose sense of self. The world disappears and it’s only you and the keyboard, or you and the machine you operate or the truck you drive. When you work a job like that you get so good at it that you forget about the other skills that drove the engine of your soul.
This film exists in a meaningless world that suggests we don’t REALLY exist. Do we have a purpose assigned on us? Or do we only come into existence when we realize our purpose? And it’s not just the realization but the pursuance of that purpose. In Existential Donut, the Donut becomes important because he chose to pursue what he assumed was his purpose. He just chose a man who had all but given up on his own. The ultimate question is whether our main character will take the steps to pursue his purpose or abandon them. And if he abandons them, does he cease to exist?
The donut in this film represents an entire world of wants and needs. When I lived in New York I’d see dozens of people lining up to carts selling coffee and donuts across the city. Everyone needed their fix before they started their day. And I wanted to see the world from the absurd point of view of the donut.