Jethica is a film about two women hiding out together in a trailer deep in the New Mexican desert as a stalker lingers just out of sight. Things aren’t as they initially seem, which makes for a captivating and visually striking movie that takes a psychological examination of guilt, atonement, trauma and how victims can overcome their tormentors. Without going too far into the specifics, ghosts play an important role in Jethica but they’re not all spooky in their hauntings. Jethica stars Callie Hernandez, Ashley Denise Robinson and Andy Faulkner. Cincinnati's rootsy bluegrass favorites The Tillers show up on the soundtrack, too.
Pete Ohs produced, edited, co-wrote and directed Jethica, which he also self-financed. A native of Findlay, Ohio, his first directing credit is a Tillers music video in 2008 for their song “There is a Road (Route 50)” and he’s consistently put out film work in the ensuing 15 years. Jethica was shot over two and a half weeks in 2021 and, rather than giving his cast a full screenplay with a whole film’s worth of lines to memorize, they instead co-wrote their scenes and dialog each morning during the shoot. Jethica screens at Woodward Theater Feb. 6.
“The way the movie got made was very collaboratively,” Ohs told CityBeat. “All the actors are writers on it because we went to New Mexico without a script, just an outline of maybe only half of the movie, and we shot it in order and wrote it as we went.”
Ohs credits the cast for making the non-traditional film shoot a success:
“To have people who you like and respect who have ideas that you like and respect? That's invaluable when creating something together.”
Jethica screens at Woodward Theater at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
Woodward Theater, 1404 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, woodwardtheater.com.
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