THE DECISION 

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Young’s elliptical narrative in this short film which he wrote and directed commingles Katie Holmes’ seamless blend of fact and fiction surrounding her 2012 split with Tom Cruise with a noir plot, blurring the boundaries of real-life and invention.

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Katie plays Joan Hudson, a superstar performer, and undercover operative. Isolated and distraught in a hotel room, a flash of a matador killing a bull signals the high stakes of her situation. A televised news report provides exposition on the actress. Joan recalls a video message identifying her nemesis and her objective. After the operative imagines an apocalyptic future for the planet, she jets to a showdown with her antagonist. Joan makes the ultimate sacrifice. The man from the video message enters Joan's hotel room, the world may be safe, but he realises Joan is not.

 

“Le Samouraï," 1967, the neo-noir written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, was Young’s inspiration for this work.

“Before our addiction to algorithms and mass fame made first-world life performative for many of us, Katie's meticulously executed divorce remains a masterclass in “winning” with hyperreality,” Young.

 

Young reworked a short film he created for John Frieda for this video – the original piece earned 350 million media impressions

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Soundscape by Spencer Young, which includes “Johnny Remember Me” by John Leyton.