MY NUCLEAR FAMILY | Omeleto

A woman wins a luxury vacation.
MY NUCLEAR FAMILY is used with permission from Nevin George. Learn more at travancore.ch.
Peggy lives in a desolate town in the middle of the desert. But her quiet, seemingly peaceful life is disrupted by a door-to-door salesman named Frank. He knocks, asking to come inside to make a pitch, selling free luxury vacations. But Peggy isn't interested; she doesn't want to leave her home.
But the conversation continues, and soon the salesman reveals another agenda for his visit with Peggy. And Peggy herself must face the unraveling of her perfect existence, as she and Frank confront unspoken emotions and buried secrets.
Directed and written by Nevin George, this stylized, meditative short drama evokes the past, but the feel is anything but warmly nostalgic. It begins with a countdown layered over a nostalgic ballad playing over an unseen radio. It's followed by an atomic blast as a house disintegrates from the detonation -- an event that will cast a shadow over the rest of the narrative, as it will through history.
Then the film segues to a salesman named Frank Donovan at a door, telling the housewife inside, Peggy, that she's won a competition for a free luxury vacation. Told through chilly visuals and strained interactions, the writing takes time to set up the film's strange emotional atmosphere, which is as studied and arid as the company town built in the middle of the desert where Peggy lives. The tempo is slower, but there's considerable care in imbuing the story with a certain staticness eerie in its emptiness and rigidity, an atmosphere reflected in Peggy's inability to face reality. The camera, too, constantly seeks unbalanced angles, almost abstract, creating a disjointed sense of reality.
But as the salesman begins to make his pitch, and then intensifies his efforts to get Peggy to sign on, we start to see the cracks under his facade, revealing another agenda. That agenda injects an intensity of suspense and tension, turning the story into a thriller. Actor Mike Ogden as Frank finds a solid balance between someone trying to appease and charm, but with a desperation underlying every beat. It takes a while, but we soon see the reason for his desperation at a key pivot in the narrative. Delusional and disturbed, Peggy has refused to leave the home, even after traumatic events, and Frank is charged with getting her out before something unspeakable happens.
Hypnotic, uneasy and ultimately gripping to watch, MY NUCLEAR FAMILY is in the uncanny position of evoking the current blockbuster Oppenheimer, both thematically and stylistically. But unlike the epic scale of that feature, this short is a much more compressed psychological drama about the aftermath of trauma, both personal and historical. It's also about the unabiding grief of a woman who has lost everything, helpless in the crosshairs of enormous historical events, whose portent is still felt in their echoes, well after they happened.

[@crystalvera9560]

I knew something was weird when she gave him a glass of water & there wasn’t any water in it & he pretended to drink it.

[@dfb2913]

Good observation! I didn't notice that

[@eugenetswong]

@@dfb2913I didn't notice either. I did notice the blank page, though. I thought that I saw incorrectly.

[@MrAroone]

I thought it was an editing mistake, but it turned out it was logical.

[@LaLa-xf7ku]

I'm totally hooked on the story. I picked up the first twist with the imaginary mother sitting in a chair in the bedroom. My brain went right to the movie Psycho. It's funny that her kids weren't in her mind, just her mom, then husband.

[@bjb7587]

​@@LaLa-xf7kuchildren were outside. She called them.

[@ChristineMC74]

As a former CRA, i have taken care of patients like Peggy.but in their 70s-up. Sometimes i can bring them back to present day and they soon discover their grown children & grandchildren.

[@dfb2913]

This is what I was thinking, at first I thought the short was about dementia. But then it left me confused, I really didn't understand the ending.

[@bookwormiee]

what is it i still dont get it? if not dementia...then what?

[@peterbiesbroek]

Greetings from another Clinical Research Associate...fluoxetine in the 90'ies...

[@peterbiesbroek]

@@bookwormiee maybe simply SHOCK....? Having lost her husband...

[@foxseligman2550]

Things that made me feel "Something is wrong": 2:04: The mother is a mannequin 2:17: The glass is empty 2:31: "It's a beautiful neighborhood", but there is no neighborhood 4:30: He hands her a blank paper that she sees as an Arizona brochure 5:55: The phone rings, but it's for him 6:55: The husband is a mannequin (and the music becomes eerie) 7:55: He acknowledges the husband as if he were real 9:10: She starts rushing irrationally 9:26: The phone, again 9:40: He says her children are somewhere else 9:44: He confirms everything that is wrong Everything after that is me waiting for the explanation

[@filmcentrl9976]

This had me hooked from the start. The empty glass and the eerie presence of the dummy "mother" set a mysterious tone right from the start. That spine tingling reveal of the husband had me jumping from my seat. The story leaves subtle hints of the twist throughout the film which makes it great for a second (or even third) watch. Great job Nevin!

[@mikewogden]

spoiler alert: she escaped a military mental hospital and fled into the neighborhood she did not realize was for nuclear testing. Frank gets a chance at redemption, to save the wife of his buddy he failed to save in the war.

[@meghanaabhyankar9151]

Did you not realize that you are giving out the story, or did you do it on purpose?

[@AngelaNicole3]

Thank u for explaining this❤

[@buecreepy]

Thank you, I didn't understand the explosion because I didn't know that they made nuclear testings like that

[@gemstar7286]

How would she not realise it was a nuclear testing place, what did she think the dummy was there for?. But then again if she's suffering from mental illness and is seeing the husband as the dummy ... she's clearly not thinking straight . But she still has her kids which she moved away from. So the kids must be wondering why their mother escaped.

[@dfb2913]

@@meghanaabhyankar9151 He's explaining it. People usually come to the comments after watching the short, to exchange perspectives, interpretations, etc.

[@rgarlinyc]

What an astonishing story - with astonishingly good acting, directing, cinematography - everything in fact. Peggy and Frank masterfully escort you on a journey that starts promising but soon unravels into despair.

[@thinkfloyd2594]

wow, the acting is so not good

[@martinwebb1681]

@@thinkfloyd2594 ... The dummy was about the most convincing actor.

[@braydenhick8549]

@@martinwebb1681 I would like to see you do better

[@bjb7587]

​@@braydenhick8549I wouldn't. 🙄

[@martinwebb1681]

@@braydenhick8549 ... Trust me, it wouldn't be difficult.

[@albertchehade9916]

SHE must get the next Academy Award, great, outstanding performance

[@balazsgyenes4268]

hey, he‘s friend from work! proud of you buddy, keep up the good work

[@HaroldBien]

Very well done. I really liked how the salesman at first appeared very nervous and thus suspicious. Later it becomes more clear why. I thought the acting was superb all around, the simple single scene worked well and the suspense at the end knowing what's coming but still having to wait was excellent.

[@LivingInTheShade]

That was totally unexpected, I thought he was going rob her.

[@lucarom]

Absolutly amazing film, love the story and the acting. Nice work hope to see more amazing art like this🎉 Mike you did great!

[@patchrockit]

That final full minute was genius.

[@LauraBonginkosi]

Wow! Just wow . The way everything was tied up in the end was so satisfying

[@daveparkes8539]

Coping with lost love and not succeeding 😔

[@anthonyloconte7835]

That we as sooooo good to watch. I totally wasn't expecting that plot twist. Great job to the production team.

[@joannas7927]

Wow. Especially powerful after having seen Oppenheimer. Thank you!

[@WorldWideDarkskingur2031]

Shutter Island like. Martin Scorsese film with Leonardo DiCaprio.

[@SharonNolfi]

Great story. I was intrigued right up to the end.

[@geoffoldread7684]

The details were just right, if you can disregard the guy's hairstyle.

[@Ms.Delphine1204]

God I love these short films. Wonderful story telling and plot twists that make you pay close attention. They are very well done and I’ve been watching them over the years. Y’all probably hate the comparison but they definitely fulfill my Black Mirror fix and have even exceeded the most recent content from that series.

[@steelstreet3765]

I love Peggy accent

[@1SwiftAngela]

I didn’t 🫤

[@oleksandrhrebeniuk2676]

Time has stopped (look at wall clock)

[@metermorphose]

What an impressive shortfilm confusing in the beginning an then beginning to dawn on me... Brilliant acting and artistic style with a minimum of requisite and perspective changing. Gorgeous work!

[@bluest1524]

They really got this one right. Best one yet. Visual style, acting, casting, built to an explosive ending.

[@blaq_betty]

So many intriguing and intricate time,style,acting,accent and plot twist i love ghis

[@Andrea-xs4ny]

Stellar performances and unique story! Fantastic!

[@MP-gm5gg]

Uniquely different loved it , testing site, drama. Thank you well-done

[@geoedge123]

Great work Nevin George!!

[@RHKhan86]

Sad story. Missing Children & dead husband becomes a tumor, if not treated well.

[@johnyadirf3605]

Damn, good one!!!

[@WendyP1965]

I love these stories so much that I wish some were full length movies and series!

[@elainealibrandi6364]

What a gem!

[@nicolebogda1482]

Great Short! Sidenote: kept trying to place the actor & realized my brain thought it was Mr. Ballen! Can’t be though, read the credits but~ rather uncanny!

[@martamarin8688]

Damn wars and Who makes them, why they behave so brutal with the lady?? Very sad😢😢

[@curious968]

They had a time limit and they were in the blast zone.

[@dandeliondreamer3365]

Great short! Well written and acted very creative 👍

[@muddobber6863]

They should have let her stay.

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

🕛💥🍄💀

[@surveyman1]

The actor playing Srgt Steve Dunhill was the best performance.

[@toyadiinae9800]

I quickly got that Wanda and Vision type of feeling

[@nichellesworld1360]

Plus, Indiana jones & the crystal skull with Don’t Worry Darling vibes too. ☺️

[@nimblemonkey]

Poor man's "Shutter Island."

[@craigjohnson4302]

Actually the manikin is the perfect husband as most wives tell their husbands, "SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

[@JamesDavid-yt4ec]

Nuclear Weapons during the "war between the states?" ... How eschatological!

[@WAD___SAAD]

Such a well made movie! Enjoyed it thoroughly

[@davestonehill6177]

Well done but the lead actor really should have had a more appropriate hair style for this role.

[@craftsandstuff3349]

That came in about 1970.

[@soyadavis9362]

iloved it at first it was weird but I got it when the woman showed her husband...

[@SamsungGalaxy-r5v]

Dark...nicely done overall.

[@xcoder1122]

What was the point of convincing her to leave on her own? Weather she left on her own or not, she would have been hospitalized either case and had received psychological treatment either case. It's not like if she had left voluntarily, she would have been healed. And it's noble, that this guy tries to take her away without physical force but why does he get so upset if that fails and they decide to just take her away by force? Note that this is how they had treated a healthy person in the first place. You enter a restricted military area, you are taken away by force.

[@cindylien2055]

To be kind. She already escaped the institution. He wanted to get her to safely to her family without traumatizing her more He wanted to help the war hero who saved his life by helping his wife.

[@LADY-gj5ou]

Very sad😢😢😢😢😢

[@larae6885]

Should have showed Peggy at her current age😢😢.really good short though

[@TheKazadoodle]

They did show Peggy at her current age

[@vivianedossantoscaipira7075]

The "That's suspicious, that's weird" would be pretty fitting for this short film. 1940's U.S.A. A random guy goes to a random woman's house, Peggy's house. Peggy, winned a supposed vacation for the rich. She's married but the guy, doesn't want the husband to come. She gets a phonecall, that's for the random guy. Out of nowhere, the husband is there??? And he's a manequin??? Husband's name is Steve, random guy and him suposedly know each other from war. Peggy finds everything weird. Everyone here knows each other. Peggy is suffering from past traumas, and he's trying to help her. Peggy learns that her husband, saved Mark a.k.a random man at war. Mark and Peggy are being apprehended. Last scene: manequin husband is left alone, when a bomb explodes.

[@briteeyes2133]

It was a nuclear staging area

[@vivianedossantoscaipira7075]

@@briteeyes2133 Well they don't say it in the video, so it's up for speculation.

[@lizziem]

Ah, I've got a feeling you might want to watch this again 😂

[@vivianedossantoscaipira7075]

@@lizziem Everything is so confusing, that it's hard to tell what is really happening.

[@SamStone1964]

​@@vivianedossantoscaipira7075Not everything in life comes with an instruction manual.

[@porscheh7120]

Beautifully done! Bravo 👏🏾 👏🏾

[@josephschauster6277]

quite the story! sad in the end for the woman.

[@LeanMarine]

🍿 There was no writers strike for this story

[@jessicalauderdale7719]

I thought she was going to turn out to be a old woman suffering from dementia, who was "trapped" in the past in her mind, and he was a doctor trying to get her out.

[@smikejasper4461]

When there was no water in the glass... bravo Omeleto!

[@bishoptatum8737]

Amazing short!

[@wasimsaif4710]

Drastic story.

[@barbarapearce9738]

Top short and very well made in all respects. Sad story though.

[@quokka_11]

How Fallout 4 do you want the beginning to be? Yes.

[@blue-chaos96striker72]

This is how fallout begins

[@joymelton-bollen6383]

This was amazing! Really good!!!

[@nova4005]

Interesting idea for a short. 👍🏽

[@rajdeo263]

I am a simpleton. Just could not understand the movie.

[@SamStone1964]

Read the comments for an explanation

[@samhardy2038]

This is terrific

[@nicolerhea3356]

Who made this Quincy Tarrantino?

[@queenbeauty-bo4wn]

Good film 💙

[@squadgeman3247]

Tragic.

[@DethronerX]

Crazy movie!

[@bottle1lack743]

Did he tried ti save her? She needs a lot of psychiatrical help.

[@christineodonnell9391]

Can someone explain please?

[@HopefulMathGirl]

I suppose he set the house on fire in the end

[@christineodonnell9391]

@@HopefulMathGirl what about the husband and the person lying on the bed? I didn’t understand anything at all .

[@michelleweber3132]

Peggy is trespassing on a nuclear testing facility and tries to tell herself that she's living there with her husband. She can't cope with the fact that her husband died in war.

[@d.grouard6737]

@@michelleweber3132 I agree; concise explanation.

[@christineodonnell9391]

@@michelleweber3132 Thanks. Who’s the woman on the settee at the end?

[@MisterG2323]

Interesting, but too opaque for its own good. No one on a rescue mission is going to cut things that close to the bone. Indeed, how does she get there in the first place? I liked where this story wanted to go; I just don't think it successfully got there.

[@ericslagle5362]

If you don't blink you'll see the dummy blinks

[@michelewidmer1108]

Congrats🎉

[@tazdevil5032]

So good

[@CRUZIFIEDv4]

Not sure who the weird one is.

[@ImnotChuck.]

The story line is a ridiculous muddle of a widow who lost her husband during the D-day invasion, suffers a mental breakdown, and somehow takes up residence in a house in the Alamogordo atomic (not nuclear) bomb test site. And if that isn't sufficiently inane, she is unsuccessfully rescued by a man whose life was apparently saved by her late husband who lost his own life doing so. About the only thing missing was one or both of the main characters buying a winning lottery jackpot ticket, but using it to light a cigarette.

[@vm51photo]

🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗

[@crabwalk7773]

👏👏👏❤❤❤❤

[@Adam-326]

Amazing film. Times were better back then. When woman were expected to be loyal and not prostituting themselves for “OnlyFans”. They could raise a family and stay home without complaining about “muh male privilege”. Men would go to work and provide for their family instead of spending money on “e-girls”. No “pronouns” crap. Kids could be kids. What has happened to our society? How did we fall this far?

[@svglorious]

She portrayed the nuclear family wife (Proverbs 31 woman) to a tee…Loyal and committed to her man and comfortable with the traditional role that worked.

[@briteeyes2133]

​@@SmilechurchVidstimes were better for women also. Better for the entire family.

[@steffhasse2324]

Back when you could live comfortably on one income

[@BR-nv8bw]

nothing women do will ever be good enough so long as they “know their place” huh

[@briteeyes2133]

@@BR-nv8bw actually EVERYTHING WOMEN do is good enough if they know their VALUE. It's not about place. Women outside the home can lose their VALUE even more than women in the home. Because many stop recognizing one of their most unique and beautiful GOD given traits. Women were uniquely created by GOD to be LIFE GIVERS. That is a gift most prized. Many women have successfully given life and worked outside the home. However women choosing career over family is becoming more common. So they are relinguishing one of their greatestest gifts. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but it is a sad thing. Loving others esp our own children is the most fulfilling thing any human being can do. That's why many people have pets because they want to love something and be loved. So a mother being home is EMBRACING her greatest VALUE,. She is choosing to give life and then loving and nurtureng others.

[@summerdragonfly]

👍🏻✌🏻

[@nicolerhea3356]

Tower of Power, "What is Hip" Forces & World Powers & Prophecy, a whole book, only my bloodline.

[@poll2dock]

Didn’t care for this one

[@peterbiesbroek]

Wow...this is really SPOOKY folks, could have happened...just could...

[@telayajackson2.023]

I really that she won the free luxury vacation, until things got sad 😔

[@eddies3472]

Amazing! Loved it! Thank you.

[@timothypage252]

Wow, this version of Barbie was DARK!

[@nichellesworld1360]

Plus Oppenheimer. 😅😂

[@rixx46]

Really well done. The mystery and the tension are really well built up and sustained. I like that the backstory is well expressed nearly entirely through subtext. The exposition at the end was a little overstated, but by then, I was hooked anyway. Loses some points for me in the period detail. Something as easy as the lead (albeit excellent) actor having his hair MUCH SHORTER. We forget today that men had VERY short buzzcuts or slicked short hair in this period (the late 40s/early 50s) When the Beatles came on the scene in the early 60s, they were called 'mop-tops' - and their hair was shorter than the "salesman's". Some more accurate period details would have gone a long way to sell this idea a little better.

[@adriannathegreat9890]

Yes, the man looked very current.

[@davidowens5898]

Picky, picky, picky. It hardly distracts from the script which is superb.

[@gregevans6044]

Thank God for independent filmmakers

[@arisimo3697]

Top tier acting, especially the widow. Bravo 👏

[@TomoyoTatar]

Her husband died in the war. This is where they lived. They moved her to Wyoming with her children, but this is where she lived with him before the war. The government acclaimed the land and did nuclear tests on it. I guess that's what I got from this. Idk.

[@gemstar7286]

I wasn't sure if it was their old home or not , i wondered if it was just an abandoned home she started squatting in pretending it's hers. But i guess it would make more sense if it was their old house.

[@GRosa250]

From Wikipedia regarding the Trinity test site: The only structures originally in the immediate vicinity were the McDonald Ranch House and its ancillary buildings, which scientists used as a laboratory for testing bomb components. The McDonald Ranch House was built in 1913 by Franz Schmidt, a German immigrant, and acquired by the McDonald family in the 1930s. The ranch was vacated by the McDonald family under protest in 1942, when the United States Army took over the land as part of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range to use in training bomber crews during World War II. The family hoped that the ranch would be returned after the war, but it was not, and in 1970, the Army announced that it would be kept permanently. The McDonald Ranch House was empty and deteriorating until 1982, when it was stabilized by the Army. In 1984 it was restored by the National Park Service to appear as it did on July 12, 1945. The site is now open to visitors twice a year, on the first Saturday in April and the third Saturday in October.

[@spirals73]

Yes, exactly.

[@Famdockevin1]

The actress playing Peggy is absolutely outstanding here.

[@HopefulMathGirl]

Wonderful movie and acting.

[@Comicsluvr]

The woman deserves an Oscar for her performance!

[@The1stDukeDroklar]

So good, thoroughly enjoyed every second of the film. Really loved the acting, mystery, and suspense. The only drag is it left me with questions. Was it just madness? Would love to have seen the backstory leading up to this.

[@AkuraTheAwesome]

She was in denial about her husband's death, she was desperately trying to pretend everything was alright. The reason she refuses to leave is that though she may be crazy, she's lucid enough to understand she's about to be blown up. She wants to be blown up. She wants to die so she can go to where her husband has gone. Heaven, presumably. She was totally mad, yes. But she knew exactly what she was doing with her nuclear suicide even whilst being unhinged. She trapped herself in a prison of delusion but her goal was ultimately to die and join her love again.

[@larapinheiro6047]

Wooow! That was so good! Amazing job and acting!

[@glen7228]

Very good, all around. Great story, great acting.

[@PippiLong1]

This was really good. Thanks.

[@eval1313]

I absolutely thought the actress was Amber Heard - had to look it up to see it was not - striking resemblance

[@Cometalktome]

She can’t go because she has to cook for her family…. Woman are so much more then just a housewife. Why do she feels all she has is her family. No life outside of her family, friends, other family members? This is just sad Good movie I enjoyed watching

[@curious968]

Consider the time frame. This would have been shortly after WW II. Late '40s, early '50s. At the time, most women could not wait to stop being Rosie the Riveter and become that classic '50s housewife that stayed at home with the kids. That may seem incredible to you today, but I lived through that time and it was so. Women's liberation was 20 years into the future; at this time, fresh off of a depression and a war, people wanted security and the single wage earner nuclear family that eluded them for so long. Many actually achieved it. Those that didn't, wanted it.

[@Justauri-asdfghjkl]

Im with you women are more than housewives but she wants the security of family after (presumably) losing her husband to war. She wants to be needed and thats the fantasy she chose. And housewives aren't "lacking" they can be just as whole as a working woman. Plus, working women can be unfulfilled as well. If she takes pride in cooking for her (imaginary) family - that's not less than

[@bsfbestshortfilmsonyoutube]

Thankfully the comment section explained it well

[@squeegel3904]

Brought a tear to my eye, props.

[@Thomas57655]

Fantastic .👌👍super direction , great story and great acting .Congratulations dear Nevin💐