A Shape of Things to Come is a borderlands western that follows Sundog, an herbalist-hunter-homesteader who lives off the land in the Sonoran desert. As border patrol encroaches on his relative freedom, he becomes increasingly unnerved and ventures beyond the bounds of his survivalism. With an unsettling act of eco-terrorist fantasy, the figure of sundog raises provocative questions about humanity's relation to the environment—and to itself—amidst the specter of global collapse.

The following is a conversation between co-director Lisa Marie Malloy and Now Instant, conducted via email in the weeks leading up to this presentation.