Hoard

Written and Directed by Emma-Jane Heaton

When a hoarder inherits the family house she vows to make it her own, but even in death her controlling parents won’t let it go.

"I am fascinated by the physcology of hoarders, and wanted to explore how and why hoarding can manifest. Jess hoards because she grew up in a house where she could have nothing of her own choosing. Her parent's house was perfect — controlled, immaculate, nothing out of place. When Jess left, she kept everything she could get her hands on. Every object was a small act of rebellion against a childhood where nothing belonged to her. 

"The haunting in Hoard is an extension of that psychology. The parents won't release the house in death because they never released anything in life. As the film progresses and the haunting intensifies, Jess stops trying to overcome her hoarding, and in the most rebellious act, embraces it. The clutter becomes armour. The mess becomes hers.

"Familial horror has always interested me — specifically what gets passed down that nobody asked for. Philip Larkin put it plainly: 'they fuck you up, your mum and dad.' Hoard is about what happens when you decide to stop letting them."

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