Palm Beach International Film Festival

Neptune is a tale set on a small isle off the coast of Maine. 14-year-old Hannah Newcombe is an orphan who has been raised by the church under the scrutiny and overbearing influence of its resident cleric, the insular Jerry Cook. At the film's open, a boy Hannah's age goes missing. He is presumed drowned and swallowed by the sea. Initially striving to attend a prestigious pious school on the mainland at summer's end, Hannah instead becomes ever more obsessed with the boy's disappearance. When haunting dreams and visions begin to occupy Hannah's subconscious she is moved to pacify them. She vies to work as a bait boy on Herb Quinn's lobster boat, a position previously held by Herb's son, the missing boy. Lobstering opens a new door to Hannah; her limited upbringing becomes affected by something broader and more elemental. Before long, Hannah's intense work schedule, coupled with her fixation, takes its toll and her intellect gives way to a certain mania. Her dictated, narrow stream of experience is drawn toward the endless expanse of the sea, and she is wrenched from her sheltered life, changing the way she views the world. She lashes out at those around her, severing ties and eventually breaking free from the island to find autonomy. Neptune is a screen-story about a young girl's search for an omnivorous spiritual path and her discovery of what it feels like to be alive.

DIRECTOR: Derek Kimball
PRODUCERS: Allen Baldwin, Matthew Konkel, Derek Kimball, Erin Maddox
WRITERS: Derek Kimball, Matthew Konkel
CAST: Jane Ackermann, Tony Reilly, William McDonough III, Christine Louise Marshall, Dylan Chestnutt
RUNTIME: 1:41:00
COUNTRY: USA
LANGUAGE: English