Where Flesh Blooms

Synopsis
In the Swedish countryside outside Mora, GUSTAV lives an isolated life with his wife, KARIN, on a secluded farm surrounded by forest. After a minor argument with Karin, Gustav reluctantly returns to work on a compost pile he has been building at the edge of the woods. But as time passes, something about the pile begins to feel disturbingly alive. Plagued by hallucinations and increasingly unable to distinguish reality from delusion, Gustav becomes more and more paranoid and anxious, yet he still works hard to make the pile bigger.
Then, on the second evening, a grotesque woman-like creature crawls from the compost, covered in black guts. Gustav panics and tries to kill it, only for Karin to intervene. To his horror, she appears to revere the creature and invites it into their home.
What follows is a surreal and nightmarish dinner-table encounter that leaves Gustav powerless as Karin and the creature turn against him. The tension builds until Gustav reaches his breaking point. To his horror, he realizes that he is gripping Karin tightly by the throat, involuntarily strangling her to death. He collapses to the floor, utterly devastated by what he has done.
Later that night, Gustav lies silently in bed, exhausted and hollow. The mud-covered woman enters the room, vomits onto the floor, and quietly slips beneath the covers behind him. He closes his eyes, and everything goes black.
Best Horror Film
Best First Short Film
⭐⭐⭐⭐