Westworld has given us a terrifying look at what might happen if humanoid robots powered by highly sophisticated AI suddenly became self-aware and very, very pissed off. Clever short film A.I. Therapy imagines instead future technology that becomes self-aware... and very, very self-involved.
At a family campground somewhere in rural France, an unspoken attraction takes ahold of two teenage strangers. But there’s something bizarre and quite possibly alien happening to the boy, and the girl soon reveals there’s way more to her than just the party princess she appears to be at first.
A few years back, io9 featured filmmaker John Panton’s short Line Signal, a chronicle of a lone women’s spectacularly spooky trail run. Now he’s back with Surveyor, another tale of a regular person who just happens to stumble into some very unsettling surroundings.
Hyperlight opens with a disoriented astronaut in crisis mode, trying to reconnect with both her ship and her mission partner—who also happens to be her beloved life partner. Once the pair arrives back onboard, something seems... oddly and dangerously off.
Michael Mizrachi’s One Day Love is really more of a music video (the upbeat song is from a children’s music album by Barak Feldman, featuring Daniella Boss), but it’s also a lovely little scifi short about a pint-sized astronaut who dreams of exploring new planets and other strange wonders of outer space.
Meet Rodney—a jolly retiree who’s taken it upon himself to host a pet cemetery in his suburban London backyard, honoring all the neighborhood’s dearly departed little companions. Certainly he doesn’t have a nefarious reason for wanting a graveyard at his house... I mean, what could he be hiding?
A family of farmers sits around the dinner table, but something’s wrong with the youngest son: He’s started to feel terribly guilty about eating the animals they raise. But this is no ordinary family, and this act of adolescent rebellion is not at all what you expect... and neither is what happens next.
Parental scare tactics come true in Luke Taylor and Chris Barrett’s fable Cautionary Tales, about a lonely young man who made a stupendously goofy face as a kid... and then, just as his mother warned him, was forced to live with that expression forever when it froze into place. But all is not lost.
The wilderness is a favorite staging ground for horror filmmakers—but Marcus Alqueres’ short Crittus adds some extra dimensions to that concept. Literally. Without spoiling anything, suffice to say this depicts maybe the worst worst-case scenario that could come from a solo camping trip.
Break-ups in the era of social media are rough—even if you “unfriend” and “unfollow” your ex, you’re still in danger of catching a glimpse of whatever they’re up to, especially if you still have mutual friends. But things are even worse for the sad, newly-single man at the center of Picture Wheel, thanks to the weird…
Arianne is already in full crisis mode at the start of Ángel Gómez Hernández’s short Behind thanks to her hostile ex, who’s determined to get custody of their daughter. So she’s understandably rattled into near-hysteria when a strange woman sidles up to her with a message that couldn’t be more cryptically awful: “…
A mom, her little daughter, and Grandma’s vintage, romance-themed board game. What could possibly go wrong in this scenario... unless it turns out that the seemingly innocent game is actually a million times spookier than an Ouija board?
A reluctant hero, a frantic wizard, and a hodgepodge of fantasy tropes (including a damsel in distress) make for what may be the fastest-paced adventure tale ever. It’s called Short and Sweet and you might forget to take a breath while you’re watching it, at least until it makes you chuckle.
We first wrote about filmmaker Olga Osorio last year when we caught her short film reStart—a suspenseful kidnapping tale with a time-loop twist. The writer-director’s latest, Einstein-Rosen, also happens to be a time-travel story, though it takes a far more lighthearted view of the subject.
In 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt vanished while swimming at a beach near his residence. He was presumed drowned, but his body was never recovered—giving rise to a Cold War-era mystery that continues to fascinate. Scott Mannion’s new short, The Defector, advances one rather tantalizing theory.
A frustrated, married mom of two becomes a beta tester for a virtual reality program that facilitates romantic encounters. Before long, though, her flirty, joyous alternate life with an idealized partner becomes the only one she wants to occupy... and the consequences are huge.
It’s a bizarre mix between Black Mirror and those Emoji Robots from Doctor Who. This new Swedish short film centers around a woman who, while locked inside a server room by a digital program, is forced to either endure illusions of her past... or take the easy way out.
Watching Mackenzie Sheppard’s short Donny the Drone, you might assume that the title character (voiced by Guy Pearce) would become a killing machine soon after becoming self-aware. But Donny ain’t Skynet, and every sentient robot doesn’t necessarily have Judgment Day on its mind. Or does it?
It’s Christmas Eve and the house is perfectly decorated for the holidays, but Dad’s acting very strange, and Mom is clearly freaked out. You may think you know where Midnight Clear, directed by Joe Russo (the horror guy, not the Captain America guy), is heading—but I guarantee you will not guess the twist.
April, the tiny star of Arthur Metcalf’s horror short He’s Watching, is an A+ hellraiser. When her parents foolishly leave her home alone, all kinds of mayhem, destruction, and cheese pizza-consumption ensues... some of it involving an axe-wielding intruder that April doesn’t seem to notice. Or does she?
