My Accidental ‘Happy Families’ Trilogy
I didn't set out to make a trilogy, but that’s what happened.
Perry was first, a short film about two couples, a new house, a new baby, and a drug dealer who doesn’t know when to leave. Then The Mother Situation, about three adult siblings who gather at their mother's house to help her die with dignity, but then when she changes her mind, quickly abandon their own. And now Baby Shower, about a pregnant woman reluctantly dragged by her mother to her own baby shower and whose estranged father arrives with an ulterior motive and a very dangerous friend.
It was only when I was talking to a journalist recently that the pattern became obvious. Each film takes characters who are playing ‘happy families’, hiding behind a veil of respectability, then strips the veil away.
Thematically, these films are about the gap between how we present ourselves and what we really are. That, for me, is where the fun lies.
I wrote each of these films to be shot in a single location in a single day. Partly because it’s practical as I'm financing them myself, but also because I’m a big believer in the power of creative limitations.
I'm not sure what the fourth film will be. But I suspect there'll be a happy family in it.
Baby Shower premiered at Flickerfest in January 2025. You can see it next on opening night at the St Kilda Film Festival, 7:30pm Thursday June 4th at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, and 6:30pm Monday June 8th at St Kilda Town Hall. You can buy tickets here: https://www.stkildafilmfestival.com.au/2026-films/baby-shower/
Perry played at Flickerfest, St Kilda Film Festival, Cinewest and Palm Springs Film Festival, The Mother Situation won Tropfest in 2017. You can watch both films here: http://www.youtube.com/@mattdayfilms
Baby Shower premiere.
My short film Baby Shower will have its world premiere at Flickerfest on January 26th held at Bondi Pavilion. Proud of this one…
Seven Years
Helen Thomson, Contessa Treffone and Hugo Weaving in Baby Shower. photo © Mark Rogers
Recently I made a short film (my first in seven years), a black comedy called Baby Shower, about a baby shower that goes horribly wrong. Like my previous short films, I wrote it so that it could be shot in a single day in one location, which we did (only just). This keeps things simple, logistics wise, and cuts down on costs, which is important as I’m paying for everything myself. Shooting handheld, no more than two takes and working with people who know what they’re doing gets you over the line.
I wrote, directed and produced (alongside my friend Heather Mitchell). I don’t much like producing. It’s too much of a distraction from the directing part. But I’ll do it if I have to.
Since my last short The Mother Situation won Tropfest seven years ago, I’ve spent that time writing and pitching numerous projects (in-between acting gigs), which can feel at times like a sisyphean endeavor. I’d almost forgotten the joy of just going out and making something. I won’t be waiting another seven years to make the next one.