A Burnhouse Pictures feature

Whispers of
the North.

Name: Whispers of the North
Director: Michael Burns

When her estranged father returns from prison seeking forgiveness, a deaf teenager turns to a magnetic stranger—only to find herself trapped in a darker version of the past she has spent her life outrunning.

Watch the trailer IMDb ↗

Whispers of the North poster — Written by Ray Prunty · Directed by Michael Burns

Official trailer

A story of silence, memory, and survival.

Filmed across Florida and Alaska, Whispers of the North follows a family living with the damage addiction leaves behind—and the difficult work of finding a way forward.

Short synopsis

The past returns in another form.

Meadow Stewart has spent years trying to outrun the wreckage of her childhood. When her estranged father returns seeking forgiveness, the fiercely independent deaf teenager wants nothing to do with him. Then Warren, magnetic and unpredictable, offers her something that feels like freedom.

But as old wounds reopen and the new relationship takes a darker turn, Meadow begins to recognize a pattern she has seen before. As Florida closes in around her, the North begins to call: cold, mysterious, and promising a life beyond the wreckage she inherited.

Extended synopsis

Meadow Stewart learned early that silence does not always mean peace.

Raised in the shadow of addiction and a family tragedy that fractured her childhood, the fiercely independent deaf teenager now lives with her grandmother, carrying an anger she has never been able to put down.

When Meadow’s estranged father, Jason, returns from prison hoping to rebuild their relationship, she wants nothing from him. His apologies cannot restore what was lost, and his recovery cannot undo what she remembers.

Then she meets Warren.

Charismatic, unpredictable, and seemingly unafraid of the parts of her that others misunderstand, Warren offers Meadow something that feels like freedom. As their connection deepens, the line between escape and captivity begins to disappear.

Caught between a father asking for redemption and a relationship becoming harder to recognize, Meadow finds herself moving through disturbingly familiar territory, with the life she spent years running from now taking a different shape.

As Florida closes in around her, the North begins to call: cold, mysterious, and promising a life beyond the wreckage she inherited.

Inspired by real people and experiences within director Michael Burns’ family, Whispers of the North is an intimate drama about addiction, inherited trauma, and one young woman’s fight to ensure that her family’s past does not become her future.

Michael Burns directing a scene for Whispers of the North on location — On location · Central Florida

Behind the film

Built around performance.

The production moved between intimate interiors, practical locations, and exterior work designed to keep the camera close to the characters. Every department worked toward the same goal: protect the emotional truth of the scene.

That approach carried from the first setup through the edit—grounding the film’s larger themes in quiet behavior, strained relationships, and what remains unspoken.

Production diary