Los Angeles, CA, (The Hollywood Times) 12/21/2025
Generational curses, addiction, and the devil himself. Pieces of Amy tells the story of a girl whose life is shattered between her past and her reality, which is distorted between the realms of darkness and a foggy existence. Written and directed by Timothy Daniel Shea, the film stars Shelby Lee Parks, K.C. Wolf, Katherine Smith-Rodden, and Gabby Thomas.
The film centers on Amy, played by Shelby Lee Parks, a young drug addict searching for her mother. She is briefly accompanied by her brother, Brian, who is also on the trail of their mother, who appears to be battling her own addiction. The film opens with a scene from a hundred years ago, where a man is running from an unseen monster in a lonely desert town. He is ultimately consumed by a dark figure that enters his body. A century later, we meet Amy and Brian in a similar lonely desert town. They say all cities in the desert were founded by a man running from something.
Initially, Pieces of Amy can be quite confusing. It’s an intricate, slow-burning, psychological thriller reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Memento, but with a horror twist. A Heavy Burden is put on the audience to piece together the fragments of Amy’s puzzling descent into addiction. Amy and Brian are in a trailer, where their mother is supposedly living. Amy wakes up from a dream, which Brian later confronts her about, questioning the events of the previous day. Was it even a dream, or was her nightmare merely a realization of yesterday’s dilemmas? Something doesn’t seem right. I struggle to comprehend whether their mother is really missing or fleeing from something, or if it’s Amy who is the one running. There’s a scene where she calls her mother, stating that she’s in a little mountain town and in trouble. However, I thought that their journey was motivated by the pursuit of their mother. Why would she call to say this? The mother never answers; instead, Amy leaves a message.
I had the opportunity to chat with Timothy Shea and K.C. Wolf at the Pieces of Amy screening during the Silicon Beach Film Festival. Tim describes his film as a story about a young drug addict who becomes possessed by her own demons. He explains that people often find themselves in an in-between state when they are on drugs, saying, “We don’t know if we’re living in a thriller where a lot of bad things are happening or in a horror film with a ghost following us.” In theory, this film explores the horrors of living as a drug addict, but it delves into much more than that. I urge everyone to watch it. It’s captivating; both K.C. Wolf and Shelby Lee Parks are mesmerizing on screen. The film is both thrilling and horrifying, and while at times I find it metaphorical, it ultimately leads me back to the beginning, where a monster lurked in a ghost town a hundred years ago. Did it all really happen?
