Would You Rather explores the experiences of a mentally ill autistic person outlining their approach to social interactions in their day-to-day and their professional life as an artist. By following a character outlining how they utilise the game ‘Would you rather’ to create a technique to thrive in conversations. The film explores key elements of the neurodivergent and autistic experiences, highlighting the relationship between mania and delusions of grandeur, and the self-assured sense of confidence one must have across a capitalist arts sector and monetised content creation to ensure success. Across a range of chaotic and unhinged ‘WYR’ questions, this film provides an insight into neurodivergent traits like masking, and systemising / hyper-focusing within social situations. Whilst the nature of the – possible imaginary – interactions narrated across this film shed light on scripting as a coping mechanism.
Shot and edited over two days, this film was an experiment in alternative ways of scheduling creative work. With the dates and pace for filming left undefined, and instead harnessing a phase of acute mania that could not be planned with diaries, taking an experimental approach to productivity that allows it to sit symbiotically with the ebbs and flows of mental illness.
