It’s often that science fiction is a rough draft prediction of what is possible. In the era of Black Mirror, creators are constantly foreshadowing the wildest case scenarios that humanity could imagine. Enter ‘Ecstatic Exit’, a film by South African writer-director, Hallie Haller. Leaning on the speculative, the shocking and the ‘impossible’, and in keeping with African sci-fi traditions, the film uses the genre to map pathways for what we might be next. ‘Ecstatic Exit’ takes us on an eyes-wide-open travel into their vision of the future, where queerness, closeness and a little chaos define the possibilities of another world.

I first encountered ‘Ecstatic Exit’ last September at an intimate gathering of filmmakers in Johannesburg, where Haller showed a sneak peek. As part of their production company, Fam Films’ first showing, the film was a significant – and shocking – break from what we’d seen anywhere else before. High contrast, high energy, and driven by a wild sound design, ‘Ecstatic Exit’ made people sit up. Since tucked away, waiting to be shared with the viewing public, Haller admits that the response to the film was more than they imagined, despite being so intentional about its message.

“This was the first time I made something entirely of my own,” Haller shares when we meet for coffee, on the eve of the film’s public release. “We work in advertising, in commercial spaces, you know, the brief dictates the work. With this film, I knew the way I wanted to make it. The process being collaborative and quite intuitive was really important to me. And taking the leap was scary, but I knew I needed to make this film in this way, and I was pretty surprised at how that audience of peers responded. They seemed to get it, pretty wild.”

The film is a bold blitz watch, driven primarily by dance. Dialogue is not central, neither are dates or ‘guidelines’ for how the viewer should see the narrative unfold. The body – both of the dancers and the characters – are the elements which move us through the story. Creaking contortionist demons, slowly swaying lovers in each other’s arms, and the sound of feet on ground allow the film to deliver its message through the senses. And that message is clear. Steeped in the belief that queer love can transcend boundaries and make the world new, the story follows two intergalactic travellers who are being hunted. They communicate across dimensions to find an escape - and each other. We don’t know who they are, we don’t know what comes before or after, but their emotionally charged performances make what they feel entirely resonant. Energised, passionate, hopeful but also deeply fearful. Even in a fractured future vision of life on (South African) earth, we’re all trying to feel close, to feel safe, and to feel loved. And to use this unlikely backdrop of fields and fog is a key into the not-so-obvious way Haller approaches these ideas.

“I knew that science fiction was something I wanted to play with. I grew up dancing, and the body — physicality — is a huge part of how I understand expression. I want to make science fiction films because I want to explore alternate ways of being. Sci-fi is usually a trope of wartime machinery and hardware. But ‘Ecstatic Exit’ considers intimacy and intuition as technology. It’s asking where connection can take us. In this film, traveling to the great unknown means journeying closer together, instead of further apart.”

Haller is deeply contemplative and careful about what they say and how. This isn’t cowardice, it seems to me to be a quite deliberate practice of care. Care for the subject matter, for the craft, for representing things, if not the ‘right’ way, but the most honest way possible. The filmmaker – despite an impressive commercial resumé – is self-deprecating at times, unsure still if the idea of the film has landed. But in taking the leap towards a self-funded film, entrusting dance heavyweight Phoenix with the movement direction elements and cinematographer Reezo Hassan with the visual delivery, they set aside all inhibitions to make what is a unique, mind-bending film experience. Haller reflects on the amount of trust they gave to their team and certainly when watching, there is a sense that each contributor had the freedom to be masters of their craft as well.

“Reezo and I talked about the spaces that he wanted to shoot in, and I wrote a film for those locations. It was a really collaborative process. And although it was pretty abstract, he got it straight away. We have a long working history and I thank that relationship made working this way possible,” explains Haller. “And then Phoenix and Mukhove took the dance part to the next level. Those scenes were originally written with more dialogue. But they reinterpreted the story and told it physically. We were really short on time and I had to just trust in their talent. I was so lucky to work with them. This is the way I want to keep making films. Seeing how changing the process can change the work.”

In many ways, this was a dream project. Haller admits that it was not made for instant sale, and the open-ended nature of the film makes it difficult to deliver it to people in the business of film – a dynamic they’ve started to accept. Certainly, it is the kind of film that leaves no room for confusion around what kind of filmmaker they are, and what they can do, even with little to no resources. With ‘Ecstatic Exit’, Haller has cemented their place as an artist willing to predict and make the world that matters to them. This is sci-fi quite unlike anything we’ve seen, and every person has the pleasure of being able to see it a little differently.