Hail Mary
2025 · 8m
Directed by Zachary Fields, Dylan Stanley, Carter Coleman
Genres: comedy, dark comedy, horror
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, theatrical
Two best friends dress up as priests to run a fake-exorcism scam on a desperate family — until the scam meets a real demon.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A fake-exorcism con that actually summons something real is exactly the kind of premise that makes you go 'wait, WHAT?' — it's silly enough to work as absurdist comedy and genuinely twisted enough to resist the cozy indie-horror lane that everyone's already mined to death.
The film's theatrical tone and its willingness to toggle between comedy and genuine unease show awareness of horror's formal traditions, even as it undercuts them; the craft of tonal management—knowing when to let the absurdity breathe and when to pull back to dread—is what separates this from a YouTube sketch.
The decision to play the fake exorcism with absolute theatrical commitment (rather than winking at it) is what makes the actual demon moment land; that specific choice of refusing meta-detachment in a comedy-horror hybrid is what transforms a one-liner premise into something that actually works.
Festivals
- Spooktacular Film Fest for Horror & Sci-Fi, Official Selection