Young Emily is doing what every horror movie child inevitably does: snooping where she has no business being. Her target is the basement, a dark, dusty repository of household secrets. What she unearths down there is decidedly not a lost plaything or a dusty box of old records. It’s something much, much worse. The moment Emily vanishes, the tone shifts—the film sheds its skin, transforming from a domestic mystery into a desperate, frantic hunt for a missing child who is trapped in a space that no longer obeys the laws of reality.

The way this is shot—and the sound design—elevate a very simple idea into a tense short. While the creature design leans a bit too heavily on Spirited Away’s aesthetic—giving it a whimsical, No-Face-esque silhouette that feels slightly at odds with the grit—the sound design and claustrophobic cinematography keep your eyes glued to the screen regardless of the aesthetic choice.

That’s really my only note. Oli Jess has made a more frightening film than others that get ten times the budget and length. 

You can watch this on YouTube. Watch it with headphones.

You can watch this either in-person or virtually at the Chattanooga Film Festival. For more info, visit the official site.