DIRECTOR, CO-WRITER AND CO-PRODUCER SIMON BARRACCHINI (LEFT) AND CINEMATOGRAPHER AND CO-PRODUCER ADAM PALUH | PHOTO COURTESY RUMINATION IMAGES

Simon Barracchini was on his way to work one day when he checked his mailbox to find a handwritten letter. With no return address, one might be cautious to open it — or start imagining the possibilities.

“Having lived a life, you kind of start thinking extremes,” Barracchini says.

He started exploring the “what ifs”: Could this be a relationship from the past? Perhaps, there was a child he didn’t know he had.

Turns out, it was a Jehovah’s Witness letter.

“It’s an interesting tactic to get people to open it up, because you’re just going to throw [junk] mail in the trash,” Barracchini says.

Inspired by this experience, Barracchini’s creative mind started running. A knock on the door could be from anyone, but what about a child you don’t remember having?

Barracchini thought, “How would you not know? How would that happen … but what if I was a woman?”

The result of his ruminations is a dramatic-thriller, “Godless Children,” an independent feature film directed and written by Barracchini that will be available through Amazon beginning May 7; it was nominated as one of the best feature films at the 2023 Lonely Wolf International Film Festival.

Barracchini is the president of Rumination Images and grew up in Beaver County; the film was made entirely in Pittsburgh. The producers used 15 locations across the region, from Ruthfred Market in Bethel Park, Chrissy’s Cut, Color, and Curls in Springdale, and even family homes offered by locals from Ambridge to Upper St. Clair.

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“The topography of Pittsburgh, for filmmakers, is parallel to none,” says Kathleen Regan, Rumination Images producer and film co-writer. “If you need to shoot a scene in the city, a scene with a cow, a scene with a suburban house, you can do that in one day.”

Regan stars as Theresa in the film, an infertile woman who gets an unexpected visitor claiming to be her daughter.

ACTOR JESS UHLER (LEFT) AND ACTOR, CO-PRODUCER AND CO-WRITER KATHLEEN REGAN | PHOTO COURTESY RUMINATION IMAGES

“I’ve been infertile all of my life, so what if someone came to my door saying they’re my child?” says Regan.

Actors Jess Uhler (Meghan) and Noah J. Welter (Nico), who both appeared in the locally filmed “Wolf Hollow,” were chosen through a round of auditions for local talent, union and non-union. “We had no issues finding actors to audition — but our problem was trying to choose,” Regan says.

The film digs into the complexities of relationships, perceptions and how sometimes people will hide things from each other, no matter how close they are.

“You’re not even sharing it with your best friend, your partner … especially as two females,” Regan says.

“Our whole idea is when things go too far,” Regan says. “We took that concept of, ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’”