Cannabis is known to have many medical benefits and can be helpful with conditions like cancer, chronic pain, and PTSD. There is also evidence of marijuana being connected to spirituality and being used for ritualistic purposes throughout history. Trim Season is a fantastical and thought-provoking commentary on gender and the magical benefits of cannabis.

Trim Season was written by David Blair (The Triangle), Sean E. DeMott (American Satan), and Cullen Poythress, directed by Ariel Vida (Vide Noir), and produced by Paper Street Pictures. Vida was the production designer for Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s mind-bending films Something in the Dirt and The Endless, and if you’re familiar with the universe Benson and Moorhead have created, you will appreciate the imaginative and almost mythical Easter Eggs Vida incorporates into Trim Season.

Trim Season follows the twentysomething Emma (Bethlehem Million), who is struggling to pay her rent when she loses her job and then has nowhere to live. She calls her best friend Julia (Alex Essoe) for advice, who then offers to take Emma out on the town so they can have drinks, smoke weed, and try to forget about their problems for one night. While at a bar, the two women meet James (Marc Senter), an affable guy who tells them he is recruiting trimmers for a marijuana farm and offers Emma and Julia the opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time. The women are skeptical at first because they just met James, but they are desperate for money and eventually decide to take the jobs as trimmers.

James takes Emma and Julia to a marijuana farm in the Emerald Triangle in California, which has a real-life history of Sasquatch folklore and strange disappearances and years of marijuana-related crimes. Along the way, they pick up Lex (Juliette Kenn De Balinthazy), Dusty (Bex Taylor-Klaus), and Harriet (Ally Ioannides), who have also been hired as trimmers. The women introduce themselves and their pronouns and discover Lex is the only one who has experience as a trimmer. She tells the group that the marijuana farms in the mountains usually hire girls because they are less likely to steal or cause trouble. Everyone is excited to have been promised good money and all the weed they can smoke.

When they arrive at the farm, they meet the owner, Mona (Jane Badler), an exquisitely dressed, mysterious older woman and her sons Christopher (Cory Hart) and Malcolm (Ryan Donowho), who also live and work at the farm. Christopher gives the new trimmers a brief tutorial in the trim house and gives them each a pair of scissors and gloves. That night everyone enjoys a lavish dinner and tries different strains of marijuana at Mona’s big house on the farm. Mona also tells the group that she cultivates a special strain for herself.

With Vida’s magnificent work with production design on Benson and Moorhead’s films, it’s not surprising that Trim Season punctuates its compelling storyline with electrifying dream sequences and Giallo-inspired visuals. The film also features remarkable, blood-soaked practical effects and arresting production design by Kati Simon. Ultimately, Trim Season is a suspenseful, uniquely crafted story highlighting pain and sacrifice that should spark some powerful conversation around women and gender. Mesmerizing performances, an innovative story, beautiful stylistic choices, and a little bit of witchy weed make Trim Season a must-see horror film.

Trim Season premiered at Chattanooga Film Festival this past weekend.