Possibly in Michigan
{{Short description|1983 short musical horror film}}
{{Infobox film
| image = Possibly in Michigan Youtube Thumbnail.jpg
| caption = Possibly in Michigan (1983) YouTube thumbnail
| director = Cecelia Condit
| writer = Cecelia Condit
| starring = Bill Blume
Jill Sands
Karen Skladany
| cinematography =
| editing = David Narosny
| music = Karen Skladany
| runtime = 12 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
}}
Possibly in Michigan is a 1983 American shot-on-video musical horror short film written and directed by Cecelia Condit, with music by Karen Skladany, who starred in the film as Janice. The film follows two women looking for perfumes in a department store being stalked by a cannibalistic murderer wearing a mask.
Condit considers it to be part of the "Jill Sands trilogy". This refers to three of her films which star the actress Jill Sands: Beneath the Skin, Possibly in Michigan, and Not a Jealous Bone.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-16 |title=Women in Horror: Cecelia Condit |url=https://morbidlybeautiful.com/interview-filmmaker-cecelia-condit/ |access-date=2025-07-08 |website=Morbidly Beautiful |language=en-US}}
Plot
Two women, Sharon and Janice, are shopping at an empty department store for perfume, followed by a man in a mask, mouth agape, wearing a black suit. Both women are said to have a reputation for attracting violent men and making the violence seem to be the man's idea. Arthur (credited as "Prince Charming"), the man following them, is introduced as sharing the same inclinations as Sharon and Janice.
Janice notices Arthur, and both women flee the department store. Sharon and Janice part ways after driving home, as Arthur follows them and stands outside Sharon's house, waiting for Janice to leave. A voiceover explains that Arthur has worn so many masks he has forgotten who he is. He approaches the front door, appearing as a normal man, and rings the doorbell.
Janice is seen shooting at various masked figures at her home. Sharon, asleep, wakes up and goes to answer her door. When she sees who it is, she immediately drops to the ground and calls Janice on the phone. While they speak on the phone, Arthur picks up a stone from Sharon's yard, revealing a rotting face beneath it, and shatters the bedroom window and breaks in. Janice is seen shooting at more masked figures. As Sharon describes Arthur's appearance to Janice on the phone, he unexpectedly comes up behind Sharon and says, "the better to eat you with, my dear," in a distorted voice. Sharon turns around as Arthur kisses her.
Repeatedly pushing Sharon onto her bed, Arthur claims that she has two options: He will either eat her immediately or slowly dismember her, claiming to do so for love. Janice shoots another masked figure and arrives at Sharon's front door. Arthur, now holding a knife, pins Sharon to her bed and begins choking her. He tells her that he has done this to six other women. Janice aims her pistol at Arthur and fatally shoots him. Sharon gets up and looks at Arthur's corpse in disgust.
The women lay Arthur's body out atop spread newspapers and begin to dismember him, making soup from his body parts. Nude, the women eat his remaining limbs, feeding scraps to their dog. While the two smoke cigarettes, Janice notices another masked man outside the window. She signals to Sharon as the figure hides before Sharon can see. After eating, the women wrap Arthur’s bones in newspapers and throw them into a trash bag. After putting the bag on the curb, a garbage truck comes and collects it, destroying the evidence.
Cast
- Bill Blume as Arthur, the man stalking Sharon and Janice. He is later killed by the women after trying to kill Sharon.
- Jill Sands as Sharon, Janice's best friend. She escapes from Arthur and cooks his body parts with Janice.
- Karen Skladany as Janice, Sharon's best friend. She shoots Arthur and cooks his body with Sharon.
Reception and legacy
The film received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council.{{Cite book |last=Peirse |first=Alison |url={{google books|id=bWn9DwAAQBAJ|text=possibly in michigan|pg=PT102|plainurl=yes}} |title=Women Make Horror: Filmmaking, Feminism, Genre |date=2020-09-17 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-1-9788-0513-2 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Chiaverina |first1=John |title=How This 71-Year-Old Video Art Pioneer Became a TikTok Star |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/t-magazine/possibly-in-michigan-tiktok-artist.html |access-date=15 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=6 November 2019}} The year the film was released, its final scene was shown on CBN and The 700 Club, where it was described as gay, anti-family, and anti-men.{{cite news |title=The art of being a provocateur |url=https://isthmus.com/archive/20-years-ago/the-art-of-being-a-provocateur/ |access-date=15 September 2021 |work=Isthmus |date=18 February 2010 |language=en-us}} A year later, the short film was read as lesbian by the National Endowment for the Arts{{Cite book |last=Straayer |first=Chris |url={{google books|id=70gyAOZrNWMC|page=291|plainurl=yes}} |title=Deviant Eyes, Deviant Bodies: Sexual Re-orientations in Film and Video |date=1996 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-07979-2 |pages=291 |language=en}} and was shown at the Museum of Modern Art.{{Cite web |title=Video: Recent Acquisitions |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2218 |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=MoMA |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art}}{{cite press release |title=MoMA TO INAUGURATE NEW VIDEO GALLERY WITH EXHIBITION OF RECENT ACQUISITIONS |url=https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/6075/releases/MOMA_1984_0011_11.pdf |location=New York |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |agency=The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film |date=April 1984 |access-date=2021-09-16}} The short film first gained notoriety on social media in 2015 and has gained popularity among Gen Z.{{Cite web |last=Gat |first=Orit |date=26 July 2019 |title=How Cecelia Condit's Video Art Became a Viral Curse for Teens on TikTok |url=https://www.frieze.com/article/how-cecelia-condits-video-art-became-viral-curse-teens-tiktok |access-date=2021-09-04 |website=Frieze |language=en}} Joanne Morreale called the film an example of a revenge fantasy for feminists,{{Cite book |last=Morreale |first=Joanne |url={{google books|id=yH1upjtj4OYC|text=possibly in Michigan film|page=352|plainurl=yes}} |title=Critiquing the Sitcom: A Reader |date=2002-12-01 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-2983-2 |pages=259 |language=en}} and Chris Straayer said the film was about male violence against women.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|tt7275680}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLJNSD3H5sg Possibly in Michigan full video]
- [https://vimeo.com/946763637 Plastic Masks: Possibly in Michigan as Urban Legend, a video essay by Stephen Broomer on Vimeo]
Category:American horror short films
Category:Films about cannibalism
Category:Films set in department stores
Category:Films about violence against women
Category:American films about revenge
Category:LGBTQ-related controversies in film
Category:American feminist films
Category:Films directed by Cecelia Condit