Sanct Social's seventh short film follows a sister's first night back in Singapore after two weeks with family in Jakarta

KUALA LUMPUR: Sanct Social, a social app for family and close friends, released the seventh episode of its short film series on YouTube on Friday (Oct 17).

The film, titled "Every moment, a star.", has no spoken lines. Sanct Social is a social app for family and close friends, free on the App Store in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore and nine more countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, India and Japan, and the short film series follows one family through the app as it is today. The film continues Episode 6, in which two friends from Singapore and Malaysia visited Jakarta for a day.

This time the visit is over. Keisha, who works in Singapore, has spent two weeks with her family in Jakarta. The film begins at the departure gate and follows the night that comes after, in two bedrooms in two countries.

Three plates again

The story takes place on Friday, Oct 17. At dinner the mother sets three plates and stops with her hand over the fourth chair. Later that night, Clarissa, the sister who stayed, shares a photo of the empty chair with two words, "Quiet again."

On Sanct Social a moment carries a small Memoji, a tiny Sancty with one word under it. Tonight the word is "Isolated". In Singapore, the company said, a friend can see a short note in the app when someone's Memoji turns rough, and that is how Keisha's phone tells her to check on her sister.

The week, and the sky

Lying on her bed in Singapore, Keisha is handed her weekly recap by Sancty, the app's small companion: three of her own moments from the two weeks, on a little tablet. She then opens the Parallel Universe, where every moment a person shares becomes a star, and flies to her sister's sky.

The two weeks are there as stars. The Parallel Universe is part of the Sanct Social app on the App Store today, not a film effect. She opens them one at a time: four plates on the father's birthday, the doorbell, five faces on one video call.

"Many Malaysian families know this night. Someone has just flown back, and the house is too quiet," Sanct Social founder Sion Abednego said in a statement. "A feed forgets a visit in a day. We wanted the two weeks to still be there, as stars you can fly back to."

Sion said the series had shown a visit in Episode 6, and that Episode 7 was about what a visit leaves behind.

"The last thing Keisha writes is 'Same time next month? Sanctum, 6 pm.' Her sister answers with one heart. That is the whole film: a goodbye that already has the next date in it," he added.

Three sticky notes

Keisha writes her sister a thoughts board with three sticky notes, the last one green: "Same time next month? Sanctum, 6 pm." In Jakarta, Clarissa long-presses the message and puts a heart on it. The film ends with two phones face down on two night tables, and the same star in both windows. The next morning, Clarissa's moment from the bus stop carries a new word under its Memoji: "Hopeful".

About the app

The company said every app screen in the film is taken from the app as it is today: the Memoji on a moment, the note in Activity when a friend's Memoji turns rough, the weekly recap, the Parallel Universe, a thoughts board with sticky notes, a reaction on a message and tagging a friend on a moment.

Sanct Social is a free download for iPhone on the Apple App Store in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and in nine more countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, India and Japan, with no advertisements. It supports Bahasa Melayu, English, Bahasa Indonesia and Hindi. The Android version is not ready yet. More than a thousand people are already on the platform, and all seven episodes of the series are on YouTube.

For more information and to download the app, visit https://sanct.social