A Time Before
Synopsis
We witness fragmented memories of a torn family - an abusive father, a mother whose memory seems faded, and a sister, Sally, encouraging her little brother to escape through imagination and dreams. As memory and fantasy blur, The Time Before becomes a meditation on the stories we tell ourselves to survive, and what is lost in the telling.
Official Selection Aesthetica Film Festival 2024
Details
- Year
- 2024
- Type of project
- Shorts
- Running time
- 12 min 43 sec
- Format
- 4K ProRes 422 HQ
- Director
-
Leo Metcalf
- Producer
- Leo Metcalf
- Editor
- Leo Metcalf
- Screenwriter
- Leo Metcalf
- Director of Photography
- Leo Metcalf
- Sound
- Harry J N Parsons
- Composer
- V.R. Alevizos
- Principal cast
- Anouk Lawless-Monnot; Simon Chambers; Bean Downes; Leo Metcalf
Genre
Production Status
Production Company
Sales Company
Page updates
This page was last updated on 16th January 2026. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
The Time Before
Director: Leo Metcalf
Year: 2025
Haunted by unanswered questions about himself, Olly journeys through his past. His story unfolds in two starkly contrasting realms: the raw simplicity of his childhood, captured in his own drawings, and the fluid, surreal world of his dreams. We glimpse the fractured memories of his early years: an abusive father, a mother lost in the haze of the past, and his sister Sally, a beacon who urged him to find escape and control within his own imagination, transforming nightmares into refuges from reality. Official Selection Raindance Film Festival 2025 - World premiere Official Selection Venice International Film Festival (Biennale Cinema) 2025 - International premiere
The Odyssey
Director: Christopher Nolan
Year: 2026
After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Circe along the way.
OH BOYS
Director: Antonio Donato
Year: 2026
In a coastal village obsessed with standing out, through flashy solos, fierce ping pong matches, and clumsy dates, a young saxophonist takes a different path. Official Selection Quinzaine des Cinéastes / Directors' Fortnight Cannes 2026 - World premiere