Watch on SFlix. 2026. Wales, United Kingdom. The life of young and naive AVA HOWELL (18) is unsettled when everything she thought she knew about her childhood unravels. After waking up in a dark void, Ava is forced to face her subconscious trauma through vivid and uncanny dreamscapes in order to discover the truth about her mother KIRSTY HOWELL (38). The Essence Of Youth is an ambitious surrealist MA student film that utilises virtual production, motion capture and locations around Cardiff to tell the story. This film does not use AI in any capacity from pre-production all the way to post-production.