It’s Friday, and all the more importantly, it’s still March as the duration of Womens’ History Month in 2021 finishes out its final week. Alas, leave it to directing duo Shahaub Roudbari and Patrik Gardino to weigh in with a timely subject matter with a twist in the new shortfilm thriller, Unwelcome, starring Roudbari and Dustin Stern-Garcia, and Samantha Win and Dawn Marie.
Two unassuming women are pursued by a pair of “perfect gentlemen” while hiking in the desert. As the fire burns into the night, the duo are met with unwelcome advances from the duplicitous aggressors. Tensions boil over and the predators learn they are prey in a gruesome taste of poetic justice.
The shortfilm’s tagline, “Complicity has consequences.” fits perfectly into the mix as you’re more than welcome to see for yourself. Roudbari and Win, both independent filmmakers as well as top-tier industry stunt professionals who’ve respectively worked on projects like WandaVision, Birds Of Prey, Man Of Steel, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, produced the pic out of their Prime Mate Films banner, and hand themselves an ample spotlight for themselves to both craft a story and lend impressive performances to boot.
It’s a horror movie with an escapist twist, and it carries its message well within its duration without making it too apparent. It’s awesome, and I rather enjoyed teasing it for those newly discovering it.
Check it out above!