She Came to Stay: A Short About Toxic Love

A short film inspired by Simone de Beauvoir's novel of the same title and the fragrance of the same name. It tells the story of toxic love through both past memories and the pain of the present.

SHE CAME TO STAY is a dark short film inspired by both the novel of the same name by Simone de Beauvoir and sponsored by the award-winning perfume created by TIMOTHY HAN / EDITION. The film challenges the notions of traditional perfume shorts by questioning the notion of contrived beauty and love through a voyeuristic view of the toxic love that exists between two female lovers played by Elena Saurel and Alice Fernandez.

This standalone cinematic short is an artistic interpretation of the novel between the director Kate Cox and the director of photography Evelin Van Rei which explores a relationship bordering on obsession through the blurring boundaries of time and memory.

The director Kate Cox says: "Using the novel as a starting point I wanted to explore the facets of a relationship verging on obsession. The character of Elena is half in the present and half in her memories of Alice. Some are nostalgic and some darker. The line between what is 'real time' and what is imagined or in the past becomes blurred - the mirror, a sort of conduit between these two worlds that exist in different moments of time."

Timothy Han challenged Kate Cox to create a short film inspired by the same novel which inspired his debut fragrance. He says: "We have always been about working with and supporting our friends in the creative fields. I believe that in allowing them creative freedom, we can truly begin to push the boundaries of convention to create something new and exciting. This short film is a case in point. Perfume advertisements tend to be these overly glamourized shoots that bear no connection to the lives we lead. I wanted something grittier and more real which somehow still shows the beauty in the banal. At the same time, it had to stand on its own as an artistic statement without being tied to the brand."

Director
KATE COX

Director of Photography
EVELIN VAN REI

Editor
SVAJUNAS GRYBE

Colourist
ALEX BERRY

Sound Design
ALEXANDER BRADLEY

Costume
ROBBIE CANALE

Art Director
STACI LEE HINDLEY

Make Up and Hair
HARSHA CHAVDA

Cast
ALICE FERNANDEZ
ELENA SAUREL