Ali Chappell’s Verified tells a quick and simple story of an influencer who gets bitten by a zombie when live streaming and finds that it finally gets her the online attention that she has always wanted, but at a much greater cost than she may have been prepared to pay.

Arrielle Edwards is perfectly cast as the lead and the film moves briskly, even if the subject of how silly influencers can seem about as easy as a target as possible. I’d love to see more of this story and how it could grow to be a little more original, but the ending hits the right tones of tragedy and comedy, so it all comes together in the end and gives me hope for the next project of Chappell’s that I get the pleasure of watching.

If Chappell’s name seems familiar, that’s because she was Eva in the reimagining of Full Moon’s Necropolis, Necropolis: Legion. This is her first short and she wrote, directed and produced this effort.

Verified is now playing Salem Horror Fest and you can watch this short and all of the features with their virtual pass now until the end of October.