Is every man a little mermaid?

Even a good man can live for decades without noticing his pain. We live in a society that offers us endless ways of sedating ourselves.

Perhaps the most popular way a man hides from his pain is in the pursuit of status or wealth. If a man is successful enough he may never have to face his pain until he mumbles “Rosebud” on his deathbead.

To be a man pursuing extreme success is to be a little mermaid, but in reverse. This man has abandoned the world of messy human relationships and submerged himself in an ocean of numbers. Numbers are an opiate for his tired soul. He mainlines them every morning. They jet through his bloodstream. His followers. His views. His Kalshi trades. His dashboards. His tokens. His jaw ratio. When everything is quantitative, everything can be optimized and maximized. A man like this never has to feel his pain, never has to awaken to all the strange stories living inside of him.

Our culture has even created great number machines humming away in the desert. These machines provide men with the numbers they need to stay sane. But if the machines fail, if numbers no longer provide a man with the relief he seeks, apocalypse.

This is what our film The Rites of Man explores. It’s a darkly comedic and philosophical look at our algorithmic and AI-driven society; captured entirely on Kodak 16mm and recently premiered in LA at The Night Temple Film Festival.

You can now watch it right here, right now.