Director: Cecelia Condit
Cast: Jill Sands, Karen Skladany, Bill Blume
Screenplay: Cecelia Condit
12 mins. Rated TV-14.

Every Halloween season, I come across some unique horror shorts in my search for new experiences in terror, and I think I found one that’s very special. Possibly in Michigan is a 1983 short film from director Cecelia Condit (Beneath the Skin) that is simply unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

Sharon (Jill Sands, Not a Jealous Bone) and Janice (Karen Skladany) are shopping in a department store in what appears to be an empty mall. They are being followed by a black-suited man in an unnerving mask, mouth agape in horror. Sharon and Janice have a habit for attracting violent men, and this masked man is no different. They flee in terror when they see the man, who follows them home, where they are ready to defend themselves.

It would be incorrect to classify Possibly in Michigan as Lynchian, but Condit has a vision that is so, like Lynch, completely her own. The dream narrative, or perhaps nightmare narrative, of Condit’s short is so palpable and haunting, and yet there are inklings of black comedy peppered throughout. In the past decade, Possibly in Michigan has gained popularity through social media. Its mix of horror and music make for something that is immensely watchable, even if I didn’t really know why it bothered me as much as it did. I had a need to see it again, to study it, to view it through my personal lens and try to understand Condit’s exact intention.

Much has been said in the 40 years of Possibly in Michigan. Some have seen it as anti-men, or pro-women, or pro-lesbian, and I was mostly caught up by the conversation about violence toward women and the cycle of perpetual vengeance created. It’s the type of horror short film that can fit a number of different molds, but it’s fascinating even without explanation, perhaps because of its lacking explanation.

Possibly in Michigan is intentional nightmare fuel. Sands and Skladany are great as Sharon and Janice, and the creepy masked man (mostly played by Condit in an uncredited performance) is terrifying, but what happens when he gets to their home is equally terrifying. While I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around it fully (and I likely never will), I can attest to its staying power and the way it has invaded my dreamscape in the days since first experiencing it.

4.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe