Logline & Synopsis
When a gawky Irish teen needs to tell her über-cool best friend she loves her, she summons help from an unusual source: a 1980s cartoon villainess.
1992. On GCSE results day, awkward Irish teenager Róisín fears losing her best friend and secret crush, Jess, a Riot Grrrl punk pixie. Determined to confess her feelings, Róisín casts a spell to summon the help of ‘Empress ClawScream’, a fictional cartoon villainess the girls idolise, as they prepare to sell their feminist Zine at a local sci-fi convention. At the male-dominated convention, Róisín and Jess face a rigid hierarchy. But Róisín's troubles escalate when she encounters a real-life Empress ClawScream in the bathroom, intent on fulfilling Róisín's wish. Meanwhile, Jess rallies against the convention's inequality, clashing with its vile Trekkie overlords, ‘V’ and Crispin. As Jess challenges the patriarchy, Róisín confronts her own insecurities with Empress ClawScream - leading to a heartfelt revelation and a convention-wide revolution.
Logline & Synopsis
When a gawky Irish teen needs to tell her über-cool best friend she loves her, she summons help from an unusual source: a 1980s cartoon villainess.
1992. On GCSE results day, awkward Irish teenager Róisín fears losing her best friend and secret crush, Jess, a Riot Grrrl punk pixie. Determined to confess her feelings, Róisín casts a spell to summon the help of ‘Empress ClawScream’, a fictional cartoon villainess the girls idolise, as they prepare to sell their feminist Zine at a local sci-fi convention. At the male-dominated convention, Róisín and Jess face a rigid hierarchy. But Róisín's troubles escalate when she encounters a real-life Empress ClawScream in the bathroom, intent on fulfilling Róisín's wish. Meanwhile, Jess rallies against the convention's inequality, clashing with its vile Trekkie overlords, ‘V’ and Crispin. As Jess challenges the patriarchy, Róisín confronts her own insecurities with Empress ClawScream - leading to a heartfelt revelation and a convention-wide revolution.
About the Project
Short fantasy comedy | 27 mins | 2022
An offbeat LGBTQIA+ fantasy rom-com where sci-fi conventions, 1980s cartoon crazes, Riot Grrrl feminism, and first love collide, Empress ClawScream is a self-funded labour of love and the debut narrative short from filmmaker Stephen T Lally. Empress ClawScream enjoyed an award-winning festival run at a variety of BIFA, BAFTA, and Academy Award-qualifying festivals.
As the film revolves around two teenagers obsessed with the villainess of an ‘80s TV series, the team created a tongue-in-cheek website for the fictional toy manufacturers behind the show. The multimedia site delves into the mythology of the Saturday morning cartoon Princess StarShimmer and the Joy Crusaders, the original home of Empress ClawScream. Presented as a 35th-anniversary toyline rollout, the deeper you explore, the more infected it becomes by the mischievous Empress herself.
In 2025, the feature-length version of Empress ClawScream was selected for Screen Ireland's inaugural Perspectives scheme. Stephen teamed up with co-writer Cian O'Leary to expand the story, now set in the Gaeltacht and based on the characters Stephen created. The feature is a unique coming-of-age Irish fantasy set on the eve of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993, and blends ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia with a modern Queer sensibility. Joyful and anarchic, yet grounded in Irish history, Empress ClawScream is now a genre-blending comedy with international appeal.
SELECT SCREENINGS
FilmQuest | Melbourne Queer Film Festival | Surrey Short Film Festival | deadCenter Film Festival | QFest St. Louis | Beeston Film Festival | Poppy Jasper International Film Festival | Leeds Queer Film Festival | The Berlin Short Film Festival
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
Best Hair & Make-Up at The British Short Film Awards | Best Sci-Fi Film at The Berlin Short Film Festival | Best In Festival and Best Pride Film (nominations) at Beeston Film Festival
The Creative
“Growing up Queer in a Christian Brothers school was insanely hard. But bullying made fantasy my escape, and I loved going to sci-fi conventions where my interests didn't feel so alien (pardon the pun!). Empress ClawScream transforms that escapism into a story of triumphant self-discovery.
This film isn't autobiographical, but it's truthfully mine; parlayed from lived experience into a fantastical dramedy where outcasts wield the magic. I wanted to tell an LGBTQIA+ story that doesn't use coming out as the central conflict. One that's joyful, hopeful, and representative of everything I love: fantasy, sci-fi, and quirky comedy. I saved for three years to self-fund Empress ClawScream, and everything was built from the ground up, but achieved on a shoestring. My vision for Empress ClawScream was to balance a heartfelt Young Adult narrative with camp spectacle. The comedy is always rooted in character; the deadpan irony of Irish conversation versus the operatic vanity of a cartoon DIVA!
I'm so excited Empress ClawScream is now on a feature-length journey as a coming-of-age tale where the realism of ‘90s Kerry clashes with ClawScream's neon realm of ‘80s glam. Empress ClawScream is exactly the kind of film I wish I'd seen growing up. Pure and simple, its raison d'être is JOY!”
For more information or to request a screener: stephen@stephentlally.com