Meshes of the Afternoon

1943 0h 14m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 459🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.8IMDB · 16,581

MysteryFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

Criterion ChannelSubscription

Cast

Maya Deren
The Woman
Alexander Hammid
The Man

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Maya Deren
Writers: Maya Deren
Languages: No Language
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 14-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

83 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Maya Deren, shot by Alexander Hammid. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Teiji Ito. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Maya Deren shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Maya Deren directs. Alexander Hammid behind the camera. Teiji Ito scores. Maya Deren cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in No Language.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 14-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
383 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Maya Deren, shot by Alexander Hammid. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Teiji Ito. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Maya Deren shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt0036154 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Alexander Hammid
Original score: Teiji Ito
Editing: Maya Deren
Runtime: 14 min · 0h 14m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $275
Original language: EN
IMDB: Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 16,581 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

1 win total

Also by

Maya Deren

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

deepkino2026-10-02
Meshes of the Afternoon stands as one of the landmark works of American avant-garde and experimental cinema, radically challenging conventional ideas of narrative, time, and cinematic space. Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid construct a dreamlike world where repetition, fragmented editing, symbolic imagery, and shifting perspectives blur the boundary between reality and the subconscious. At its core, the film explores desire, anxiety, identity, and the psychological entrapment of a woman caught within her own inner world. Rather than telling a conventional story, Deren uses cinema as a language of dreams, making objects, gestures, and spaces acquire mysterious psychological meanings. Its influence on experimental film, feminist cinema, and the American avant-garde is immense, particularly in demonstrating how a film could be deeply personal without relying on dialogue or conventional storytelling.