Desperate to save her long-distance relationship, college student Ana (Fernanda Lopez) transfers from Boston to Tulane to be closer to her boyfriend, Doug. Instead of picking her up himself, Doug arranges for her to carpool down south with three of his acquaintances: Henry (Michael Zapesotsky), Julia (Sofia Angelopoulos) and Johnny (Jake Melamed).
As they cruise through the darkened backroads of Ohio, Ana quickly realizes that Doug doesn’t know these strangers nearly as well as he claimed. Stranger still, the group keeps finding themselves trapped, returning to the exact same lonely gas station over and over again. With each iteration of this haunting time loop, the gas station and its patrons grow more evil, more hostile and more dangerous. To break the cycle and survive, Ana must finally stand up for herself.
Still Ohio marks the impressive feature-length writing and directorial debut for Kaylin Allshouse. The film was shot entirely on location in Ohio, turning the state’s eerie, midnight highway landscapes and isolated rural gas stations into characters in their own right. Trust me. This feels real. One night, coming back on I-70, it felt like the miles to West Virginia and then back to Pennsylvania were going the wrong direction and that we were trapped, doomed to haunt the exit right by the Lion’s Den outside of Zanesville. I swear we saw a witch once; I swear we saw some Majestic-12-level psyop. A time loop rest stop would not surprise me.
I also loved Allshouse’s The Weatherman Who Knew Too Much, and I am excited to see what comes next.
The GenreBlast Film Festival is a one-of-a-kind film experience created for both filmmakers and film lovers, celebrating genre filmmaking in an approachable environment. Described by Movie Maker Magazine as Summer Camp for Filmmakers, we screen the latest in independent, cult, niche and underground films that aren’t easily accessible. Other events include filmmaker Q&As, special guests, giveaways, after-parties, and an awards ceremony. The GenreBlast team is hard at work creating a destination event that will have the independent film industry talking about it all year long. GenreBlast is a festival for filmmakers, by filmmakers, that strives to become one of the best independent film festivals around. We celebrate the finest in true genre cinema, and we look for the best features, shorts, animation, music videos and screenplays you have to offer. For more info and tickets, visit the site.
