''The Dust Factory'' is a 2004 film directed and written by

Eric Small Eric Small is a television and film producer, writer and director of different movies and the TV Series ''Penn & Teller: Bullshit!'' (2003). Short biography Small's first writing project, ''Blue Blazes'' was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Screenp ...

Plot

Ryan Flynn (

Ryan Kelley Ryan Jonathan Kelley (born August 31, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Mean Creek'', ''Prayers for Bobby'', as Ben Tennyson in '' Ben 10: Alien Swarm'', and as Deputy Jordan Parrish on ''Teen Wolf''. Early life Kell ...

) is a young boy who,

traumatized Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...

by the death of his father, has not spoken aloud or exercised his imagination since. While on a walk with a friend, Ryan falls from a bridge and apparently drowns. He finds himself in a parallel universe called the ''Dust Factory'', which houses all humans who are on the verge of death, but have yet to die. The Dust Factory's topography is immense, encompassing lakes, forests, mountains, and a wide field covered by dry grass. In the center of the Dust Factory is a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

pavilion whose Ringmaster is a figure of some authority and dread. Each person dwelling in the Dust Factory must enter the circus pavilion and make a leap (a literal ''leap of faith'') across the arena into the arms of a trapeze artist to proceed into death or return to life. The latter decision occurs when a participant falls into the arena during the leap, leaving behind a pile of dust which marks the passage, gives the realm its name, and when disturbed allows the one doing so to enter a hidden chamber where they play a game of the individual's choosing against the Ringmaster. In the Factory, Ryan regains his voice and is reunited with his grandfather (

Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...

), whose Alzheimer's disease has (in his real life) prevented him from communicating with his family. The grandfather, who is apparently knowledgeable about the inner workings of the Dust Factory, advises and tells him stories. The stories he tells, which outwardly appear to convey no obvious meaning, contain hidden parables that Ryan must solve. The theme of belief and hope ''versus'' cynicism or despair surfaces in relation to one of these. Throughout the main body of the plot, Ryan spends a single endless day exploring the Dust Factory under weather conditions that are always favorable to wandering through the environments and marveling at natural beauty. He is guided by his grandfather and accompanied by a girl of his own age called Melanie Lewis (

Hayden Panettiere Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series '' Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the ABC/ CMT musical drama serie ...

), who has been in the Dust Factory for years, lacks any memory of her previous life, and lives under the

illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may oc ...

that the

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

is of perpetual winter, despite the appearance to Ryan and the viewer of interminable summer. Melanie and Ryan, under the eye of Ryan's grandfather, become intimate friends. Their time is passed in an emotional atmosphere of joy and discovery, mitigated only by the influence of the mysterious Ringmaster, who interferes several times with their activity, and by Melanie's conflict with Ryan's grandfather, who wishes Ryan to ''make the leap'' across the arena and thereby contradicts Melanie's desire that all things remain as they are forever. Matters gradually reach a climax, after which Ryan's grandfather ''makes the leap'' and dies. Subsequently, against Melanie's wishes (who does not want to be left alone in the Dust Factory), Ryan makes the leap himself, but falls into the pile of dust and is sent back to life. Melanie then defies her own delusion of continual winter and makes the decision to determine her own fate. Having returned to life, Ryan resurfaces from beneath the water and is rescued by his friend. Although he no longer has any conscious memory of the Dust Factory, it seems to be present in his subconscious, as implied by the facts that he has regained his voice, and a general feeling of

joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

in life. He subsequently encounters Melanie, who in real life has recovered from a

cerebral aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circula ...

. Although neither Ryan or Melanie has any conscious memory of the other, they appear to subconsciously recognize each other.

Cast

as Grandpa Randolph *

as Melanie Lewis *

as Ryan Flynn * Kim Myers as Angie Flynn *

George De La Peña George de la Peña (born December 9, 1955) is an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, choreographer, actor, and teacher. He was born in 1955 in New York City, New York. Originally trained as a concert pianist, de la Peña switched t ...

as Ringmaster *

Michael Angarano Michael Anthony Angarano (born December 3, 1987) is an American actor. He became known for his roles in the film '' Music of the Heart'' (1999) and the television series '' Cover Me'' (2000–2001), as well as for playing a recurring role as Ell ...

as Rocky Mazzelli *

Peter Horton Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as Lionel

Reception

The film has a 9% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

Syndication

It currently airs on The 3 on Epix and has also aired on

MGM HD MGM HD was an all high-definition television cable network owned by the MGM HD Productions subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a division of Amazon's MGM Holdings, Inc. It featured movies from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library of 1,200 movie ...

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dust Factory, The 2004 films American fantasy films 2004 fantasy films Films scored by Luis Bacalov Films shot in Oregon Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films about parallel universes 2004 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films