When a pregnant woman's recurring dreams draw her to an indigenous man living in the swamp at the edge of her development, she and her unborn child become his vessels for vengeance against the suburb.

Virtual Screening

Halpate Virtual Screening

$10.00

One night, online. Halpate, our supernatural horror short, followed by a live roundtable with the cast and crew. Plus a first look at where the festival run and the feature go from here. July 15, 7PM EST. Join us.

Halpate Virtual Screening

$10.00

One night, online. Halpate, our supernatural horror short, followed by a live roundtable with the cast and crew. Plus a first look at where the festival run and the feature go from here. July 15, 7PM EST. Join us.

Origin Story

As we took the winding curve off the Turnpike, the car emerged into a wasteland of the Kissimmee development. The treeless lots, squished closely-enough together to induce claustrophobia, encroached upon the edge of the Florida Everglades. Mounded clay, stacked in front of construction sites, tinted the wind with an orange haze, while the late summer heat warped the air above the asphalt. No humans in sight. Just endless stucco and meandering sidewalks. We looked at each other: this is a horror movie.

Synopsis, Genre + Themes

At their new home in a pristine Florida subdivision, expectant mom Sarah is plagued by an ominous recurring dream about a mysterious indigenous man. Though her husband Mark dismisses this as "pregnancy brain," they learn this man, Elijah, lives in the last undeveloped land at the edge of their neighborhood.

The next day, Sarah bakes Elijah a pie. Elijah gives her a necklace for “protection.” During their uncanny encounter, Sarah cuts her leg on a conveniently-placed branch, which Elijah then uses it to enact a perverted blood ritual. Halpate – a corrupted alligator warrior spirit inspired by Florida indigenous myth – is summoned into Sarah and her unborn child to wreak havoc upon the suburb.

Supernatural Suburban Horror

The complexity of the post-colonial world: reconciling the horrors of the past with the steady drumbeat of time and progress
environmental degredation
societal dread

Director’s Note

Halpate was born from a deeply personal place. I grew up between Puerto Rico and Florida, running barefoot through the woods, jungles, creeks, and swamplands— spaces that felt alive, mysterious, and sacred in their own way. Those wild places shaped my imagination and gave me a reverence for the natural world that’s never left me.

After 12 years away, I came back to a Florida that was vastly changed. The wild spaces are disappearing and actively being swallowed by the endless suburban development. I can only look on in horror as the construction of cookie-cutter homes and commercial real estate replaced the beauty and wildness that once defined this place.

Being Puerto Rican of Taíno descent, I’ve always felt connected to the Indigenous histories of Florida and the Caribbean in ways I'm still figuring out. This story started because I couldn't stop thinking about what was happening to the Florida I grew up in. But it also became about something I'd been circling for a while: about Indigenous people and their history, what memories the land actually holds onto, and what we're really losing when we pave it all over.

Creative Team

Harry Perales Jr

WRITER/DIRECTOR
A Puerto Rican visual storyteller with a BFA from NYU Tisch who melds performance, atmosphere, and sharp visual instinct into his filmmaking. Past photography/videography collaborations include NY/NJ Riverkeepers, Nasdaq, and Faherty. His artistic vision explores myth, memory, and the quiet, uncanny spaces where transformation begins.
Kate Szekely

PRODUCER/SARAH
A seasoned actor + producer in film, theater, and new media. She currently has three short films on the festival circuit and produced a Gracie Award-winning radio program for NPR. Kate is the founder of Halpate's production company, Epiphany Junkie. Kate filmed Halpate while seven months pregnant with her first child.
Derin Thorpe

CO-DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Known as "the stylized documentarian," Derin specializes in finding overlooked stories through powerful visual storytelling. His clients include Netflix, Vogue, and Facebook. A "hunter-gatherer of honesty and beauty," he brings collaborative passion to Halpate's storytelling, with distinct visual languages for suburban sterility and swamp vitality.
Lucas Buck

CO-DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Luke is a NYC-based DOP, Cam Operator, and Gaffer with over two decades of experience in broadcast, documentary, commercial, and branded content. Whether he's capturing the intensity of live sporting events or creating polished visuals for commercial clients, his focus is on crafting emotionally resonant frames that serve powerful storytelling.
Mike Fitzgerald

PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER
Production sound mixer based in Central Florida with over fifteen years of experience in commercials, documentary, short and feature films, television, corporate branded content and digital media, live event coverage, audio mixing and music recording.
Jennifer Bonner

COSTUME DESIGNER + ABBY
Jen is a host, writer, actor and producer who’s hosted programming for Lifetime and NBC, led a three-season travel series, appeared on Home Shopping Network, and starred in multiple streaming films. Through her production company, Luv U Productions, she produces short-form branded vertical content for brands, destinations, and local communities.

The Vision

Development

MAY - AUGUST 2025
Kate finds out she is pregnant and thinks, “great now we can actually make this movie!” Harry writes at least six drafts of the script as Kate starts crunching numbers and reaching out to collaborators.
Production

OCTOBER 2025
The short film was shot over three days in Central Florida.
Post-Production

NOVEMBER 2025 - MAY 2026
The short film was edited, colored, scored, and re-mixed over six(ish) months. The project receives a $2000 Finishing Fund Grant from Film Florida. Kate and Harry have their baby!
Festival Tour

MAY 2026 - DECEMBER 2027
The short was submitted to 10 genre festivals across the globe for its first year on the circuit. Year two will expand to regional festivals. The goal is to garner coverage, audience, and collaborators for the feature.
Feature Development

2026+
The Halpate short is part of a feature package that is being developed and shopped at festivals, screenings, and film gatherings both local and global.

Join Us

We’ve raised $18,500 to date, which paid our cast and crew fair wages (and rented a second awesome camera). Now we need your help to get us across the $8K finish line.

Throughout 2026, we're hosting private screenings and events to complete post-production and launch our festival campaign. Every contribution helps us finish the film and develop the feature package.