Mikael

In remote villages in the East, specific beliefs, mysticism, and perception of death and the afterworld are closely entwined into the customs and habits of people's daily lives. This story unfolds through Magda, who suddenly becomes a young mother grieving the sudden loss of her beloved husband in an accident. Her comfortable, blissful world shatters into despair and self-pity, leaving her like a piece of broken glass. Her two young kids, Mikael and Lulu, are left to fend for themselves and their dog. This cruel twist of fate forces Mikael to shoulder his father's adult responsibilities and become the sole breadwinner for the family. Over the next two years, Magda lives a zombie-like existence until a second tragedy strikes. Mikael, like his father before him, leaves her one morning after being killed in a hit and run accident. All that's left is Lulu, a dog, and a large, empty farm with a few chickens and cows to sustain the family. Among folks in this part of the world, it's a common belief that a soul will enter the afterworld - be it heaven or hell as its final resting place after death; but Mikael's was trapped in another place. In a void between the afterworld and the human world, the dead and the spirits dwell, invisible and unreal to living human beings. His only option for escape is to save his mother from her own void, the depression that has held her in a numb state since her husband passed.