Beckoned
2025 · 15m · Canada
Directed by Richard Zelniker
Genres: drama, horror, thriller
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
A young couple driving to Bishop Falls for their anniversary becomes stranded on a remote road and must survive an encounter with a terrifying supernatural apparition that tests the limits of their love and trust.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Zelniker understands that the best horror is really about trust — and by fusing apparition with relationship collapse, he makes the supernatural serve the psychological rather than the other way around.
Couple on remote road, supernatural apparition, weekend anniversary turned nightmare. Fifteen minutes. The relationship-cracks-amplified-by-horror framing is exactly what every horror short claims. Earnest, derivative, capable cinematography is no surprise.
Richard Zelniker uses the supernatural encounter as amplifier of pre-existing relationship cracks — the It Comes at Night logic where the monster is the relationship. Solid framing for a short suspense piece.