Moon is a surreal short film written and directed by Luke Casey and features rising British musician Brian Nasty, whose music is used as the soundtrack. As a demented moon wreaks havoc and destruction outside, the London-born rapper and producer stars as a lone restaurant guest who continues to eat and drink while he waits out the end of the world.

Moon is part of a series of surreal shorts made by Casey during the Covid pandemic. “There was a lot of intense news and information I was ingesting through my screen,” says the director. “I wanted Moon to reflect that sense of anxiety a lot of people were feeling but tried to deliver it in a fun and surreal way.”

It is the small details that gild this project with a surreal edge; whether it is wine glasses filled with fluorescent liquid, the ghostly red glow from the chaos outside, or the viscous glitter tears that run down Brian Nasty’s perplexed face. The cinematic suspense is effortlessly finessed.

The collaboration between Casey and Brian Nasty came about after conversations via Instagram where both artists discussed their love of Japanese culture; which is why some audiences might watch this film and be reminded of the moon in the Japanese video game The Legend of Zelda that is on an apocalyptic collision course with the town below.

“Brian messaged me and I loved his aesthetic and the playfulness in his music,” says the director. “We exchanged ideas for the film and met for the first time on the shoot. Brian brought a lot to the project in terms of ideas and details. We have plans to make a film in Japan when the world opens up again.”