Is Purgatory a Palace or a Prison?

It’s 1989 New Orleans; the streets are lively, and the Palace theater is playing a show. That is before it’s engulfed in flames at the hands of a bitter leading lady who has a problem with punctuality. After setting the place on fire with her liquor stash in the dressing room, we pick up 46 years later at the same theater before its anticipated demolition.

PALACE, directed by Shane Matthew Collins, is a sharp, suspenseful short film full of theatrics and thrilling performances. The story is both fun and frightening, playing on the idea of purgatory and the past coming back to haunt you.

Beyond the intentional decor and furniture adorning a building's interior, its character and charm come from its history. What happens when that history comes back to haunt you is something we’ve all seen before. History is doomed to repeat itself if something or someone refuses to change. PALACE is unique in that it shines a light on the horror that occurs when character, charm, and autonomy are stripped away from a playhouse theater.

What I loved most about this film was the specificity of its characters and their attachment to the theater. The arts are frequently under attack, and not just through funding cuts. This film emphasizes the anxieties of the arts with an incredibly personal and petrifying tone.

We are first introduced to Valerie, who enters the theater as carelessly as she approaches her role and lazily sets the theater on fire. This is later paralleled with an introduction to Shannon, the man in charge of the theater’s destruction. 49 years later, it’s clear nobody has learned the lesson that the theater is not for you to destroy, as it serves as a home to the forgotten souls and performers. While you may try, those very souls are what keep the theater alive.

Margaret's first line performing as an understudy for Valerie is “I don’t belong here. I don’t want to stay here.” A definitive line alluding to her future in purgatory in the Palace theater. The writing is incredibly quick, and the performances back it up. Soundscapes and score are my make-or-breaks for a film, and I found this one incredibly captivating, like a character of its own.

If you’re new to DGM, my favorite thing about movies is the feelings they evoke and the conversations they spark afterward. Immediately after seeing this film, I was reminded of my favorite horror stories and the oral lore that makes them so frightening. I felt inspired by American Horror Story and The Shining, and I thought it worked wonderfully in this story. Horror preys on our deepest, most personal fears—what could be more terrifying than having the one place where you truly belong, your sanctuary, ripped away? For many, a theater isn’t just a building; it’s the only space where they can finally be themselves. To lose that is a completely different kind of haunting.

Till next time, stay flirty, stay thirsty. Watch more movies together. Make more movies together.

Cin Cin!

Paige Bulera