Tell Me I'm Special

Tell Me I'm Special is a darkly comedic drama that peels back the layers of suburban life, revealing the passions, struggles, and buried truths of a seemingly ordinary community. At its core, it’s about rediscovering identity, embracing authenticity, and finding the courage to live a life that feels real.  

Shot with intimate, shallow-depth-of-field cinematography that stays close to its characters' unspoken emotions, Tell Me I'm Special is set against the quiet beauty of Cape Cod — its beaches, quaint streets, and understated isolation mirroring the internal struggles beneath each character's composed exterior. Visually and thematically, the film explores what it costs to suppress your true self, and what it takes to reclaim it: repressed desire, the search for authentic identity, and the fragile, human work of building real connection with others — and with yourself. 

Repressed Desire: The consequences of suppressing one’s true self.  

Identity and Transformation: Rediscovering authenticity in the face of societal and familial expectations.  

Connection and Alienation: The subtle ways we find, lose, and rebuild relationships with others and ourselves.  

Tell Me I'm Special is a multi-layered exploration of modern identity, isolation, ambition, and vulnerability. It’s a poignant reminder that behind every perfect-looking exterior lies an untold story, and finding your true self—no matter how messy—can be the most liberating journey of all.  

At a family BBQ, five neighbors — each quietly unraveling under the weight of who they're supposed to be — collide in ways that will upend their small coastal town. Michelle, a housewife starved for connection, begins an affair with her daughter's soccer coach. As the fallout spreads through their community, each character is forced to choose between the safety of their old life and the risk of becoming someone real. Tell Me I'm Special is a darkly comic, deeply human story about the cost of performing normal — and what's on the other side of finally stopping.

Nicole Sacker is a screenwriter, director and web-series creator.  screenplays have placed as finalists at the Austin Film Festival, Scriptapalooza, Final Draft Big Break and Scriptation. Nicole grew up in Los Angeles and got her MFA in Film/TV Production from USC where she was the recipient of the Telemundo Fellowship.  Her acclaimed USC thesis film "The Duel" won five awards, including Best Short at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.  

Mick Thyer is a commercial, theater, and feature film director, actor and writer, and has taught creative writing workshops on both coasts.  Mick has worked for Disney UK, A Band Apart, Funnyordie, 418 Films and Beach Glass Films to name just a few. He has worked in Serbia, his homeland of Australia, and throughout America in a wide spectrum of theater and film projects. He graduated from the University of Queensland and was accepted to attend Brown University’s Graduate Writing Program on an International Internship.