The time has come for the first screening of the new year! With 2026 rolling in, it’s time for another installment of our monthly screening series, kicking off the new year right with over a dozen incredible short films. This month’s screenings will take place at LOOK! Dine-In Cinemas in Glendale, California on January 28th, with in-person tickets available. The in-person screening will take place in two blocks, the first at 7 PM, and the second at 9:30 PM. It will be available to stream as well, running from the 28th through February 1st, only on BitPix! Without delaying any further, let’s get on to the films!
7 PM
VoxRaptor – A wonderful short horror film that focuses on living with a disability as well, the film sees Marley (Lauren Jude Rosa) being read a bedtime story by older brother J (Bex Taylor-Klaus) about a deaf woman who uses a spirit to enact vengeance on those who’ve wronged her using ASL. It’s a really fun concept that adds that great thriller twist at the end, with co-star Tori Saleh joining in on the great narrative as J and Marley’s older sister Leah. A wonderful job by director Ray Taylor and writer Paige Lauren.
Late For Dinner – Directed by F. Carl Hansen, this Easterseals Disability Challenge short features a man looking to take care of the one he cares about in his own misguided way, or so it may seem. Dennis (Scott Rosendall), at a dinner party featuring his partner Kyrra (Angela Rockwood) and three of his exes (Shannon Dieriex as Sarah, Megan Clancy as Joan and Jamie Brewer as Chelsea) gets into a fight which causes his partner to leave him, all while being ridiculed by his guests. There is a major turn in the film that is really well executed, making this is a wild and enjoyable film that is sure to delight and surprise audiences.
The Deadline – Danny J. Gomez is a force in this film, co-writing it alongside Natalie D’Alacio as well as starring and directing this piece that focus on Gomez’s character Jeff, a notoriously unreliable and disliked production assistant who is the sole option to deliver the only copy of the footage of a film to the editor. Jeff’s luck turns when he’s kidnapped at gunpoint in his vehicle, leaving his wheelchair behind and forced to try to find a way to escape his assailant alive and still make the delivery of the footage that everyone is counting on him for. It’s a fantastic, fun and imaginative film that really goes the extra mile to show the dedication of the character and the creativity of those making the film.
Tame – Will Schneider’s tense short about diner waitress Marlene (Ashlyn Lozano) is a film that feels like it’s ripped out of the most awkward of interactions that people observe on a regular basis, with an intense escalation. As Marlene just tries to get through another day, she’s forced to deal with Shane (Tyler Riggin), an egotistical, misogynistic and difficult man who spends his time interacting with Marlene alternating between hitting on her, boasting about himself, and insulting her when she rejects him. The film is incredibly tense, that uncomfortable knot in your stomach forming when things really kick off, leading to an unexpected climax that is sure to surprise the viewer.
Betty & Mary: The Actors Prepare – America Young directs this film that was written by and stars Dana Lyn Baron (who is equally matched by co-star Tally McCormack) in this wild film about two actresses going out for the same part: the middle-aged and jaded Betty (Baron) and the younger, more attractive and full of potential Mary (McCormack). As Betty is preparing for her audition, she finds herself in incredible pain, with Mary attempting to help. It leads to a tense, panicked bonding experience between the two women in the middle of a women’s restroom at the audition location, talking about aging, the past, life, love and a whole lot more, all while Betty is attempting to handle a messy and painful physical emergency. It’s a film that knows where it’s going, even when the viewer isn’t sure, but navigates itself in a way that is as surprising as it is satisfying.
Proscenium – Georgia Evensen’s short film is a beautiful exploration of storytelling through motion, as the film gets a bit meta, following a film crew as they attempt to make the type of film this project actually is, with a director (Olivia Sprague) attempt to connect and assist with the performance of their main cast member (Asha Manthena) as she struggles with her routine, the two of them putting their faith in each other to show get the project made. The dance itself is gorgeous, with Manthena showing incredible talent in her movements, and the perspective of it being live, unfinished adds a layer of vulnerability to the film that really makes it interesting.
One Klick – James Deveney’s short film is a wild and intense journey through a world that sees people participate in a sort of game where they race against a clock to hunt others under the consequence of death. The film shows its premise early, an reinforces it later as we see three friends go hiking in the desert, only for one of these competitors to emerge and attempt to hunt them down. Selina (Jewelianna Ramos-Ortiz), George (Vinny Balbo) and Manny (Justin Ortiz) are just three friends who go out into the desert to hike, only for a mysterious gunman (Nathan Kayn) to begin to pick them off, changing their peaceful hiking trip into a desperate attempt to survive. The concept is really interesting, with not a lot of explanation to it, leaving it a tense mystery that feels like a part of the larger world. Once it kicks off in earnest, the film is tense, violent and harrowing, making it an heart-pounding thriller that leaves the viewer wanting more.
POP! –Alexandra Hsu’s film about a woman dealing with adult acne and an overbearing and meddling mother is a fantastic film about self-acceptance and finally striking out on your own. Jennifer (Michelle Ang) has been living with her mother (Cindera Che) up until the age of thirty, going to whatever lengths she can to cure her severe case of adult acne, something that has held her back for most of her life. When her mother promises that her high school crush will be at a Chinese New Year party, the fallout of that event and of Jennifer striking out on her own will cause massive shockwaves through her family. This is a fantastic film that really shows how, at times, a parent who makes their child their everything and goes to any lengths to help and protect them can go awry, stunting them and leaving them unprepared for the world around them. Jennifer’s physical struggles also show an incredible transformation from shame to understanding about herself in a way that is really beautiful to see.
Where The Children Go To Play – Mason Bleu and Taylor Robyn star in this intense and dark sci-fi film by Jada George that sees a new world in the year 2099. Set at a facility in Detroit, Sevyn (Bleu) and Solana (Robyn) are two people going through a candidacy program to determine their viability to help steward humanity, whose population is dropping year over year and showing little sign of change. Through a rigorous interview process held by androids (who have little to nothing in the way of sympathy as compared to their human counterparts who used to conduct these interviews), Sevyn and Solana are asked a series of questions that escalate as they go on, eventually leading to a test of will and strength as the interviewers break both of them down through a systematic destruction of their psyche, using insults and psychological pressure to test their resolve and evaluate their candidacy. It’s an incredibly intense film that really ramps itself up as it goes on until it’s inevitable release of that tension, making it a fascinating and harrowing look into a future that is brutal in so many ways. George really nails the concept and theme of this dystopian nightmare, leading the viewer to really examine the film well after the credits have rolled.
9:30 PM
End Of Camp – Camille Ramos’ film, which was co-written by Mickal Adler, is a terrific coming of age story that focuses on three camp counselors tasked with staying behind and getting the end of summer tasks completed at a rural Alabama summer camp. Miles (Adler), Nolan (Nick Ribolla) and Jameson (Matty Smith) party, bond, and occasionally complete their duties, all while tension builds between two of them, leading to an exploration that mirrors that nostalgic ‘what could have been’ feeling that so many leave summer camps feeling. It’s a gorgeous story of friendship, budding romance and youthful exuberance that is sure to feel familiar to many of those who watch it, with the cast really nailing their roles and showing these characters as people who may not know hang out with each other in other circumstances, but find a bond together in this place that can be so magical for so many.
M.U.B. – Serena Dykman’s film, written by James V. Hart, is a wild and fantastical story about Ben (Justin Taite), a nearly forty man whose life seems kind of stunted, engaging in a one night stand with the much younger Debbie (Shahdi Wright Joseph). In the afterglow of their sexual encounter, Ben’s demeanor changes, telling Debbie a wild story about the monster under his bed that was woken up by their sex, making it so neither can leave the safety of that bed until morning for fear of being taken by the monster. A seemingly ridiculous claim, Debbie and Ben struggle to find common ground, until things get all too real later in the evening, leading to a fantastical and terrifying horror film that feels as much psychological as it does creature horror. It’s a fascinating film that sees both leads really shine, with Taite’s Ben showing child-like vulnerability and Wright Joseph’s Debbie displaying the kind of skepticism and dawning reality that this kind of film needs.
Why Didn’t You Leave? – Starring Salem Rogers, Shaylan Fife, Stockton Ross and Nick Rock Richardson, this Syd VanRoosendaal film is a quiet exploration of fading fame, abuse and the attempt to leave it all behind that is equal parts sad and beautifully haunting. Kyra (Rogers) and Chance (Ross) were a couple who made music together, gathering a following online and generating a small amount of fame. After a situation of abuse when Chance assaulted Kyra, Kyra attempts to leave it all behind, absconding to a remote area in the woods to find herself after her ordeal. It’s there that she meets Jason (Richardson) and Nancy (Fife), a couple who live nearby who mirror some of the feelings Kyla got near the end of her relationship with Chance, the woods surrounding them playing a role in the ethereal and mysterious sequence of events at the end of the film. The woods are a strange place, Kyra is told, and this bears fruit as Kyra is sent on a journey in those very woods that is both real and fantastical, blending what feels like reality and something more psychological. VanRoosendaal really delivers on this film as a director, blending the terrible reality of domestic abuse, the disassociation one can feel in the aftermath, and the kind of terrible daydreams that can follow should the abuse victim make it out alive.
Holy Curse – Snigdha Kapoor’s excellent film make its second appearance with us, as the film has been covered on its own, along with an interview with Kapoor. That piece goes into more detail about the film, but its presence here makes it no less special a second time. Radha (Mrunal Kashid) is a young person assigned female at birth who, on a trip to visit family in India, is forced to be brought to a spiritual ritual that would rid Radha of their attempts to understand their own gender identity. Radha’s family, which consists of Radha’s parents Ravi (Shardul Bharadwaj) and Lata (Adithi Kalkunte), as well as brother Bittu (Prayak Mehta) and her uncle (Anup Soni), believe that Radha’s spirit is accompanied by a male ancestor, a curse that explains Radha’s protests about being a traditional woman. This expression of younger people figuring themselves out, even if not fully understood, is one that so many go through, and Kapoor really delivers on the concept and themes of the film, with Kashid doing excellent work as the lead.
The Wilhelm Scream – Anna Quinlan’s documentary short about the most famous sound in history is a fascinating one, as it outlines the origins of the sound, its namesake, and talks to those in the movie sound effects and sound design field that continue to use it. Pioneers like Steve Lee and Richard L. Anderson talk at length about their history with the famous scream, and how its use became a bit of an inside joke between sound designers would keep using it to make their other sound design compatriots laugh. The story behind such a pervasive sound in film history is fascinating, with Quinlan showing a deep passion for film and its history in the making of this documentary.
That’ll do it for us this month! A big congratulations to everyone who was able to show off their films, and for everyone involved in their creation, and be sure to check back here with more news, reviews, interviews and more! Thanks for joining, and we hope to see you back next month!
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