Film Overview:
Title: The Mystery of Eve
Format: Stop-Motion Animated Short
Genre: Gothic Fantasy / Fairytale
Runtime: 8:28
Director, Writer, Illustrator, Animator: Mari Robeson
Music, Mix & Edit: Douglas Edward
Connected Work: Visual prelude to the novel Alchemy (Fall 2025)
Synopsis:
Set in the mid-1800s within the shadowed halls of a whimsically gothic mansion, The Mystery of Eve is a handcrafted stop-motion short that unveils the chilling origin of the House, decades before the events of the fairytale novel Alchemy unfold.
When the beautiful and curious Evangeline Marie Burke is lured by water sprites with the promise of eternal youth, she makes a devastating choice that shatters time itself. What begins as a seductive escape becomes a curse, binding her, and all she loves, to the mansion in a ghostly limbo that spans generations.
Crafted entirely by hand from painted and sculpted paper, the film evokes the vintage magic of early cinema and the nostalgic charm of stop-motion storytelling. The Mystery of Eve is a meditation on vanity, grief, and the aching desire for redemption.
The story’s threads continue in the novel Alchemy, where, sixty years later, a mysterious visitor may finally unearth the truth buried within the House’s walls. Laced with cryptic Easter eggs, the film invites viewers and readers alike to piece together the mystery in a visually interactive way.
LOGLINE:
The Mystery of Eve - Trapped by Vanity - Shimmering in a Pool of Regret
In the 1800s, a young woman is tricked by water sprites into eternal youth, a curse that binds her and her grieving parents to a gothic mansion, until hope stirs again in Alchemy.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Mari Robeson is an author, filmmaker, and visual artist whose work blends storytelling with fine art. With a background in design and illustration, she brings a distinctive handmade aesthetic to her film. Every element of the film, from the ornate paper-sculpted mansion to the articulated puppets, was meticulously created by her hand. The film evokes a painterly, dreamlike aesthetic rooted in Mari’s background as a visual artist. The stop-motion medium was chosen specifically to bring her artwork to life in a tactile, emotionally intimate way. The Mystery of Eve is her debut stop-motion short and the first cinematic entry into the world of her upcoming fairytale novel Alchemy.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER:
Douglas Edward is a composer with feature film credits including SANITARIUM (starring Malcolm McDowell, Robert Englund, and Lou Diamond Phillips), the Lifetime Channel Film ADOPTING TERROR (starring Sean Astin and Samaire Armstrong), the SyFy Channel Film METEOR APOCALYPSE (starring Joe Lando and Claudia Christian), and the indie film THE BOYS OF GHOST TOWN (starring Danny Trejo).
Douglas used to record piano and violin for bands, including Alan, Smile Smile, The February Chorus, Bill Callahan (Smog), and Clinic. He's also performed live with Black Tie Dynasty, Calhoun, Flickerstick, and The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash at various venues and outdoor music festivals including the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans. A few songs he's written/recorded string parts on have aired on several TV shows, including WB's ONE TREE HILL, NBC's CHUCK, and NBC's THIS IS US.
Douglas graduated from the University of North Texas in Music Composition and he's a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). He currently lives in West Hollywood with his partner Ryder.
