Cait & The Corpse

Cait, a struggling small-town beautician, will risk everything to get petty revenge on Mrs. Jones – the recently deceased teacher that ruined her teenage life – by giving her a hideous mullet for the funeral service in place of her legendary beehive hairdo.

Link to Script on The Black List HERE

Director’s Statement

Growing up, my Mom’s hair salon, Foxy Roxie's, catered to the elderly wives of farmers in my small town. She rarely left before dark. But Mom loved 'cutting heads.' One morning the shop was closed and she was out the door with her scissor kit. As her salon sidekick, I wanted to know where she was going. “Mrs. Harris passed away, I’m doing her hair for the funeral.”

Record scratch — you’re what?

My Mom, not the macabre type (her favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz), had a second career as a beautician for the recently deceased.  I was compelled and a little creeped out. How could she do it? "Like any other haircut, they usually have a lot to say.” As a Pharaoh would be laid to rest with their worldly possessions, Mom sent her clients to the great beyond looking fabulous. They were her loyal customers. She felt duty-bound to it.

The idea soon developed into a story about a beautician coming to terms with her past through a haircut for the woman that loomed over her shortcomings. While not a true story, per se, it is personal and specific – in location, characters, and most importantly, the hair but in that specificity is an exploration of the universal: what it means to be fulfilled in the confusing, painful, and beautiful lives we lead. Change your hair, change your life, they say. But I want to know about the woman doing the cutting.