10-26-25 — Christina Critiques GenreBlast Film Festival Shorts (Part 8)

Title: THE BLUE-EYED BOY AND MR. DEATH

Directed by: Jaysen Buterin

Country: US   Run Time: 19 minutes

Themes: Grief

Content Warning: Death of a parent

Synopsis: A man dials his deceased father’s phone number one night and it changes his life forever.

Favorite line(s): “How did you know you were going to be a good father?”

Thoughts: Heavy boots, friends. While the story is wholesome and sweet, the underlying heartbreak and the happiness it instills later, hurts. I think it hit a bit too close to home knowing my parents are getting older and I can’t save them from the inevitable. I cried, I smiled, and I cried some more. Absolutely perfect.

Title: MEMORY MOUNTAIN

Directed by: Tim Meyer

Country: US   Run Time: 15 minutes

Themes: Parental grief

Content Warning: Loss of a child

Synopsis: Trent and Penelope go to a cabin for what they hope will be a bit of closure to their heartache. But everything comes with a price.

Favorite line(s): “You can’t keep trying to bring him back.” “Can you just move on?”

Thoughts: And another one that made me sob. You directors/writers and making an old lady cry, I tell you. I know Tim Meyer’s from the indie horror literature circle and he never fails to surprise. This cinematography and the setting (woods, mountain view, and cabin are breathtaking… then he really takes the viewers breath with the uncontrollable body sobs. And the open-ended ending? *chef’s kiss! A difficult but haunting beautiful film.

Title: THUMP

Directed by: Alexa Acuna

Country: US   Run Time: 11 minutes

Themes: Regret

Content Warning: Vehicle manslaughter

Synopsis: A young girl is on her way to her prom when she hits a bump and goes thump.

Favorite line(s): “If there is a God out there - she hasn’t done anything for me.”

Thoughts: THUMP is the only one I have watched that confused me and I believe it’s more cultural than message or the writer/director’s fault. So it’s definitely a me problem but the heaviness of it is still felt and forced into the viewers senses. The underlying message is dealing with alcoholism and it being a passed down or observed disease. Still, stellar and moving.

Title: DOORS

Directed by: Gina DeAngelis

Country: US   Run Time: 14 minutes

Themes: Getting older, refusal to change

Content Warning: N/A

Synopsis: A husband and wife getting up in age must come to an agreement on where they will live.

Favorite line(s): “Realtor says it will sell fast - it’s a gold mine.”

Thoughts: The witchy vibes mixed with the new age of condos was brilliant. The casting on this one was perfection. The husband and wife made the viewer feel the tension and their inability to compromise and friends, was it heavy. Zeus - can we give a silent round of applause for that pupper? He knew things were going to get a lot more tense. A gentle reminder for all of us that as we get older, life doesn’t get any easier.

Title: INVASION ‘53

Directed by: Danielle Weinberg

Country: US   Run Time: 10 minutes

Themes: Aliens

Content Warning: Cheesy 50s type one liners

Synopsis: At a dinner party, the news is reporting aliens! But it’s just silliness, right?

Favorite line(s): “Who’s managing the news station? Orson Welles.

Thoughts: First, I have to point out the obviously awesome casting of Peter Combs. And somehow he has kept his underlying silliness seen even in this short. The wife of the party house needing constant validation is such a seemingly 50s thing and fit so perfectly. Honestly, INVASION ‘53 is a witty, sci-fi cackle a minute short. I could have watched a full feature length film of this.

Title: THE CUSTODIAN

Directed by: Colin J. Mason

Country: US   Run Time: 9 minutes

Themes: Nosy teenagers

Content Warning: N/A

Synopsis: Halloween night and a bunch of teens are partying until one realizes their boyfriend is missing. So off Alice and Angel go to find him. But will this be their last Halloween.

Favorite line(s): “Promise me you’ll get me out of here.”

Thoughts: HOLY SHIT! The spider special effects was remarkable. I even paused the short to just stare at it trying to find the wires or something. Nope. It looks real AF and I was cringing for an hour thinking about it. The acting was silly but it was meant to be and the location was creepy AF as well. The custodian cracked me up at the end.

Title: SHUTTER SOUND

Directed by: Elias Mays Schultzman

Country: US   Run Time: 13 minutes

Themes: Racism

Content Warning: N/A

Synopsis: A woman goes running in the woods and a man goes for a walk to take pictures. Their paths collide in the worst of ways.

Favorite line(s): “If I get murdered out here - I’m going to haunt you forever.”

Thoughts: Eesh. This was rough to watch because the past years and the racial tension of Karen’s calling the police or taking the law into your own hands. The statement she makes about not feeling safe in Baltimore is a haunting foreshadow for the man she is about to meet. And the makeup artist for the ending… they did amazing.  A timely and sadly relevant short.

Title: THE BURGER

Directed by: Nathan R. Smith

Country: US   Run Time: 9 minutes

Themes: Disappointment

Content Warning: Hair in food

Synopsis: A man is on a mission to get his girlfriend a burger but he makes some unplanned stops between.

Favorite line(s): “I’m on my home. Can you pick up some burgers?”

Thoughts: I cackled so loud at the “Sir. Sir. Sir.” Part. Sheridan, the main male character, is kinda caught between a rock and a burger joint. We see him happy with his newest collectible and then it’s ruined by his insane girlfriend and her needs. (Look, she could have gotten them on the way home, too, so she’s not innocent in all of this.) But that last look from Sheridan… that made my heart hurt because we have all been there. Silly but oddly heartbreaking.

Title: CATAMARAN

Directed by: Joseph Rocco Plescia

Country: US   Run Time: 8 minutes

Themes: Bad ass women

Content Warning: N/A

Synopsis: A grindhouse-esque short with two hot chicks fighting.

Favorite line(s): “Come here, bitch.”

Thoughts: Imagine an assassin that had minions but they are just bumbling men that are as unhelpful as tits on a boar. Then imagine a beautiful woman on a catamaran enjoying her vacation with her flavor of the week. Then fighting ensues! It’s 70s feeling, bad ass women, and men dying in ways they deserve. Feministy and 100% fun.