Everyone, you, me, the world's most famous sex symbol, eventually has to confront the fact that they're getting old. In 2016, we have to do it with a pack of Facebook profiles and Instagram followers staring back at us, while we worry about attracting new upvotes and likes. And it's only going to get more intense from here. That's the near-future world that Jackie, played by Pamela Anderson, is struggling to endure in Connected, a short film by Luke Gilford.
Connected is a portrait of a woman grappling with aging, self-perception, and transformation in a technologically optimized world. Jackie (Pamela Anderson) is a burnt-out AuraCycle instructor in the midst of a midlife crisis. She's obsessed with self-improvement podcasts (voiced by Jane Fonda), and she is soon drawn to an advanced yet enigmatic wellness spa that promises to enhance her mind, body and soul. Guided by her effortless and nubile mentor, Luna (Dree Hemingway), Jackie will give up anything to feel “connected"—to herself, to the future, and to a precarious sense of perfection.