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Clayton Nepveux iii

Cost of Living +

Clayton Nepveux iii

Cost Of Living - Clayton Nepveux iii

In a near-future lab, two human clones are tested for theIr abIlIty to reproduce naturally... ...untIl the experIments spIral Into faIlure, vIolence, and a corporate decIsIon that changes everythIng.

Sci-Fi Short Film | 10–12 Minutes

TEST FAIL OPTIMIZE

Cost of Living is a short film about the machinery of modern life... It’s repetition, absurdity, and violence. What begins as a sterile science experiment becomes a reflection of our own condition: a system that demands performance, consumes purpose, and loops endlessly without resolution.

At it’s core the film is about capitalism’s desire for optimization, to streamline life itself into something marketable and efficient. In doing so, it reveals the hollowness of the rituals we still perform: signing consent forms we don’t understand, chasing lovers we don’t want, cradling babies we didn’t ask for. The loop is inescapable. The camera pans endlessly. The clones die and are replaced. Every scene mirrors the last.

I’m especially interested in the loss of masculinity... not as power, but as purpose. The engineered male clone isn’t dangerous or dominant... just irrelevant. By the end, he’s neutered, defeated, chasing a an absurd symbol of his discarded identity.

The loop continues. The system remains. The cost of living, paid.

We were a nation of hunters and explorers, lovers and fighters, tamers of horses and breakers of new land. Now we are a nation of clerks, functionaries, secretaries, insurance men, receptionists, typists. How far we have fallen. - edward abbey

execution: One location. Three shoot days. Controlled. Formalist aesthetic. A 360-degree camera pan will repeat in each experiment, reinforcing the mechanistic loop of the narrative. Keep it simple... Stupid.

THE CAST THE SUIT 40s-60’s High ranking executive. Cold. Desensitized. Wields power through silence. Must command the room with stillness and menace. THE BABY Prosthetic Prop. never stops crying. THE ROOSTER Alive and kicking. MALE CLONE: 30s. Physically perfect. Psychologically blank. Programmed for instinct but lacking context. Demands intense physicality, deadpan aggression, precise control over gesture. Silent role. FEMALE CLONE: 30s. Physically perfect. Observant. Curious. Reactionary. Graceful. Passive, but quickly asserts control. Requires internal strength, stillness, and strong non verbal story telling. COLLINS: 50s-60s. A career scientist nearing burnout. Bureaucratic, anxious, data over ethics. The only emotion he shows is fear...of the man above him. Dry delivery with a repressed undercurrent of dread.

in conclusion... the future’s got no balls

contact: writer / director clayton nepveux III 504.952.2069 claytonnepveuxIII@gmaIl.com thanks for your time cost of living - mmxxv

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