Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

In the quiet stillness of an afternoon, a lone woman, weary and world-weary, traverses her way home. On her solitary path, she picks up a delicate, wilting flower, and inadvertently drops her key. Upon entering her humble abode, she succumbs to exhaustion, finding respite in the embrace of a deep, inviting armchair. Yet, even in the sanctuary of her dreams, an ominous dark figure taints her peaceful slumber, an elusive presence she can't grasp, a phantom of her consciousness. As she descends deeper into this dreamlike reality, her home morphs into a labyrinthine purgatory, its familiar walls transforming into confining barriers. In this unsettling realm, uncanny doppelgängers of herself materialize, each one a perfect duplicate, each one a haunting reflection. They navigate this eerie house, drawn to an ever-spinning record player, a discarded telephone, and a bread knife that seems to yearn for blood. The woman, lost in this maze of her own making, thirsts for an escape, for a resolution to this surreal nightmare. She sees a cloaked figure, a bearer of dread, walking down her driveway, leaving the frail flower on her bed, and then dissolving into the shadows. The knife, once innocuous, now lies menacingly on her bed and then on the stair, its presence a chilling reminder of the lurking danger. The woman watches as the events unfold again, her house now a stage for this cyclical, disconcerting performance. She naps again, this time in a chair, only to awaken to the sight of a man carrying the flower upstairs. He places it on the bed - a silent offering. The knife is within reach. The mirror shatters, fracturing her reflection, her reality. The man re-enters the house. Will this dreamlike sequence end in a nightmare? Will he find her? Or will she find herself, lost in the meshes of the afternoon?

Meshes of the Afternoon is a fantasy movie featuring Maya Deren.

Meshes of the Afternoon is currently streaming for free (ad-supported) on Kanopy and it's also available on Criterion Channel.