Project Detail

Mystis

A pale child-like figure floats in a dark, cavernous underwater space beneath a rippling blue-lit ceiling.
A pale child character looks over their shoulder in a dim, candlelit hall with ghostly translucent figures in the background.

Synopsis

You awaken on a fog-shrouded shoreline and meet Echo, a strange child with a hole in their stomach. Together you cross a lantern festival where the veil between worlds is thinnest, sail into an ocean that opens beneath you, and descend through a portal into the Underworld.
The Underworld moves through different facets of grief: a rave where silhouettes dance in slow motion, indifferent to Echo's attempts to reach them; a frozen sea where giant statues crack open to release a buried memory of a lost mother; a shadow theatre where an anger monster is unleashed, reducing everything to embers.
From the embers, a boat carries you into a vast darkness, where Mother appears, and they are finally reunited. You sail together to the Tree of Life, a bioluminescent, cosmic jungle. Echo begs her to return to the World of the Living, but ancestors appear and surround you. She cannot come back - the journey was never about bringing her back. Echo, revealed to be your own child self, dissolves around you as the hole fills with light.

Details

Year
2028
Type of project
XR / Immersive
Running time
20 mins
Format
Cinematic PCVR / Immersive Experience
Director
Tatiana Collet Apraxine
Producer
Alina Mikhaleva
Co-Producer
Alysha Nelson
Screenwriter
Tatiana Collet Apraxine, Ruth Mariner
Sound
Billy Mello
Composer
Jay Chakravorty

Production Status

Production Company

Onism Studio Limited

31 Mill Street
SE1 2AX London
UK

Page updates

This page was last updated on 13th August 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.

An iPhone Notes app sketch of a person wearing a costume designed to look like a slice of pepperoni pizza, covering the torso, throat, and head against a white background. Sticky Notes

Director: Trim Lamba

Year:

After buying a second-hand iPhone, a man discovers it’s filled with notes and doodles that reveal a disturbing portrait of its former owner. Official Selection London Short Film Festival 2026

I Heard That They Are Not Going To See Each Other Anymore I Heard That They Are Not Going To See Each Other Anymore

Director: Ka Ki Wong

Year: 2026

In present-day Taipei, Tao develops unexplainable affectionate feelings for Shin, an indifferent guy. Desperate to create lasting memories, she sends people to beat him up, using pain as a twisted form of connection. Meanwhile, Melih, having left Istanbul for Taipei, owns a noodle shop. One night, he receives an unexpected flower from the perpetually drunk Ping. Melih begins to stare into the flower from time to time, experiencing the tale of Tao and Shin and revealing his own unspoken desire and failed attempts to connect with Ping. As Melih digs deeper into the tale, he confronts his struggles to form meaningful relationships. His struggle gradually mirrors Tao’s struggle with Shin. As Tao grows closer to Shin, Shin vanishes, leaving Tao to realize that these recollections, retained only by her, might be mere figments of imagination. Tao’s tale then makes Melih question if it’s better to forget everything, as he contemplates whether letting go of solitary memories might finally bring him peace. Official selection CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Festival 2026 - Next:Wave Competition (World Premiere)

Two dancers in Zimbabwe The Rift

Director: Janire Najera and Matt Wright

Year: 2025

A fulldome dance film set amidst the rich and varied landscapes of Zimbabwe, where performers express the tension, resilience and interconnectedness between people and the natural world under the pressures of climate change. With their movements, the dancers explore the consequences of environmental disruption and the profound ways in which people and nature are intertwined. Through abstract choreography, symbolic imagery and an atmospheric score, the work reflects the planet’s vulnerability, the challenges posed by environmental shifts and the transformative potential of collective effort. As the dancers navigate these ever-changing locations, their movements evoke the escalating consequences of a warming world, capturing both its fragility and the urgent call for action.