The World Premiere of Dolores Rice’s Psychological Thriller ‘FAT’

The body never forgets…

The human body is an archive—it stores memories, sensations, and, sometimes, the weight of a crime that remains unspoken for decades. In Dolores Rice’s visceral new short film, FAT, making its World Premiere Monday at Dances With Films LA, that archive is forced open with “razor-sharp acuity”.

The film introduces us to Maeve, a woman standing at a terrifying precipice. After years of suppression, she comes to a shattering realization: the sexual violence she endured in childhood has completely ruptured her sense of self. The trauma isn’t just a memory; it is a physical entity—a “tyrant” of the present that breathes through her and derails her life. As the haunting tagline suggests—”The body hides the crime…” Maeve’s struggle is literally and figuratively a battle against the weight of her own flesh.

Featuring a cast led by Liz Fitzgibbon and produced by Liam Beatty, Dolores Rice, and Ashley Dyson, FAT asks what happens when the body finally refuses to hide the crime any longer.

Beyond the Surface: A Psychological Thriller of Self-Reclamation

While FAT is a psychological thriller that doesn’t shy away from the “grit” of its subject matter, it is ultimately a story of “authentic self-reclamation”. It explores the powerful paradox that while the body can be the site of a crime, it also holds the “key to the heroic repossession of self”. Maeve’s journey is one of transforming a narrative of defeat into one of “heroic justice”.

The film is written and directed by Dolores Rice, an award-winning visionary known for her “women-centered storytelling” and extensive background directing at prestigious venues like The Abbey Theatre in Dublin and 59E59 Theaters in NYC. Rice, who holds an MFA from The Lir and has taught at La Sorbonne, brings a deep, intellectual rigor to this debut film project from Ashore Productions.

Fusion Shorts Block at DWF 2026

Audiences can see this transformation from silence to survival on Monday, June 22, at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. FAT will screen as part of the Fusion Shorts Block 1 at 4:15 pm.