Decomposer: A post-COVID reflection on nature, humanity, and stillness [Podcast]
John Schramm hosts a Kinolime roundtable with Andre Ford, Georgina George, and Chaya Amor to discuss Decomposer, a top 3 finalist in Kinolime’s 2.0 screenplay competition. The script, praised for its sparse dialogue and eerie visual storytelling, reads like a film already in motion—grotesque in one moment, poetic the next.
At its center is George, a parasite fumbling toward humanity yet forever just shy of redemption. The panel compared the script to Under the Skin, The Road, and Joker, while also noting its flashes of dark humor reminiscent of Vincent D’Onofrio’s alien “meat suit” in Men in Black.
Beyond its horror, the screenplay resonated as an ecological parable and existential fable. Georgina admired its reminder that life is worth saving; Chaya emphasized its theme of becoming what we hate. But John distilled it down to the simplest truth: great screenplays deserve to be made.
Full Transcript: Decomposer: A post-COVID reflection on nature, humanity, and stillness
Participants:
John Schramm - Head of Development, Kinolime
Chaya Amor - CMO, Creative Director, Kinolime
Georgina George - Kinolime Reader
Andre Ford - Kinolime 2.0 Competition Finalist, Writer of Cooperville
John: And I’ll tell you why I think the story needs to be told—because the screenplay is good. Boom. That’s it. Great screenplays should be made.
[00:36]
John: All right, welcome everyone to another Kinolime roundtable discussion. Today we’re talking about one of the top three screenplays from our 2.0 competition, Decomposer. Here with us live on Zoom are three amazing people: Andre Ford, one of the top three finalists with Cooperville; Georgina “Georgie” George; and Chaya Amor, Kinolime’s CMO.
[01:01]
John: Andre, thanks for joining us. You’ve always been vocal about your love for Decomposer.
Andre: Thanks for the invite. When I got the email, it was a no-brainer. I’ve mentioned many times how much I love this script.
[01:23]
John: Georgina, thank you for joining us. Where are you based?
Georgina: I’m in North London. I first heard about Kinolime through a friend who submitted a script. I really enjoyed reading it, then stayed to read more. There’s so much great content on the site—it’s worth sticking around.
[02:01]
John: And we also have Chaya Amor, CMO of Kinolime. Chaya, I know you were texting me like crazy about this script when you read it.
Chaya: Absolutely. Every script that made it this far has been strong, but Decomposer really stood out. I’m excited to dive in.
[02:58]
John: Georgina, let’s start with you. What was your first impression of Decomposer?
Georgina: I absolutely loved it. It’s really different—the way it balances levity with darker themes. It has this stillness to it, not a lot of dialogue, and the parasite character is very quiet. I could imagine it as a physical performance—captivating and moody.
[03:42]
Andre: For me, it was such a quick read. The imagery pulled me right in—the gray woods, the sadness of the parasite. Yet there’s humor too. One description compared George to “a chemo patient who fell down the stairs”—darkly funny. And then there are beautiful, eerie moments, like when George stands behind an old woman in a wheelchair at church, hammer in hand, and no one notices. It’s so strange and unsettling.
[05:06]
Chaya: I agree. The pacing is visually fast—you see it all unfolding in your head. I loved how it mirrored ecological fears. It felt like Earth reclaiming itself, consuming humanity in response to how we’ve treated it. The script uses visuals instead of dialogue to deliver that fear, which I really appreciated.
[06:42]
John: That’s a great point. Hitchcock used to storyboard his films visually before adding dialogue. Decomposer follows the same principle—strong visual beats.
Andre: Exactly. And I liked how it subverted horror conventions. Animals aren’t scared here—the dog doesn’t whimper, the horses are silent, the birds keep flying. In most horror stories, animals sense danger, but here they don’t. It felt like a leveling of the playing field, almost like during COVID, when nature thrived as humans stayed inside.
[09:00]
John: Let’s talk about George, the parasite. Georgina, was there anything that surprised you?
Georgina: Yes, how quickly George developed self-awareness and empathy. I expected more push and pull—him trying and failing to drag people to the pit—but instead he evolved into consciousness really fast. It was surprising but moving. I found myself rooting for him sooner than expected.
[11:00]
Chaya: I noticed that too. George never really learns a lesson. He comes close but never resolves. Normally you expect growth or redemption, but here he stays consistent with horror tradition. I liked that—it made the story scarier.
[12:28]
Andre: For me, George doesn’t enjoy what he does, but he doesn’t resist either. It’s just who he is. That made him tragic rather than monstrous. It reminded me of Don’t Look Up, where DiCaprio says, “We really had everything, and we screwed it up.”
[15:25]
John: What films or works did this remind you of?
Andre: Definitely Under the Skin. Also The Road by Cormac McCarthy—the bleak, survivalist tone.
Georgina: It reminded me of a film about a silent woman facing an alien invasion—about isolation and found family.
Chaya: For me it was Joker. George is like an anti-hero protagonist you fear but also sympathize with.
John: I thought of Vincent D’Onofrio in Men in Black—the alien in the human “meat suit.” That fumbling grotesqueness came through.
[17:18]
Andre: To be blunt, we’re destroying the world. Decomposer is dystopian but strangely uplifting. The parasite doesn’t learn hope, but joy. It could have been mean-spirited, but instead it’s bittersweet.
[18:28]
Georgina: I agree. Thematically it’s ecological but also hopeful. It shows that humanity and life are worth saving. The parasite connects with photographs of genuine smiles, longing for that world. That nostalgia makes it powerful.
[20:02]
Chaya: To me it’s about the tragic cycle of becoming what you hate. Sometimes we give ourselves to a greater cause, only to realize it’s destructive. That reflection makes the story deeply relevant. Maybe that’s why nature resets us.
[21:12]
John: Beautifully said. And sometimes the reason is simple: great screenplays should get made.
[21:42]
John: Andre, Georgina, Chaya—thank you so much for joining this discussion. It’s been a joy nerding out about Decomposer. We hope to have you back soon.
