Stalled
2023 · 12m · USA
Directed by Eric Rich
Genres: dark comedy, horror, thriller
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, tense
A man's composure unravels into a psychological breakdown when a silent, unblinking child crawls into his bathroom stall and refuses to leave.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A bathroom stall as a pressure chamber for psychological collapse—it's genuinely absurd, which is exactly why it works. Most scouts would reject this premise on logistics alone; Rich leans into the constraint until the claustrophobia becomes metaphysical, and that's the kind of subversive, 'wait what' move that separates interesting films from safe ones.
The two-hander format recalls a theatrical tradition of intimate psychological duels, though Rich's commitment to the stall's geometry as both setting and character edges toward something more formally ambitious than that lineage would suggest. The editing rhythm—cutting between the man's fracturing composure and the child's stillness—demonstrates real control over how space and silence create dread.
The decision to make the child completely silent and expressionless transforms what could've been a gimmick into something genuinely unsettling; it's that single refusal to give the audience a reaction beat that makes the protagonist's unraveling feel earned rather than indulgent on a microbudget.
Reviews
A brilliantly executed horror comedy that stretches into every possible corner of what at first seems like a pretty limiting premise.
A darkly demented and funny short film that watches like an episode of an anthology series where audiences will be glad they're not the main character.
Festivals
- Slamdance Film Festival 2023
- Fantasia International Film Festival 2023
- Cinequest Film Festival 2023
- HollyShorts Film Festival 2023
- Smodcastle Film Festival 2023, Best Short Comedy