Short film

The One Who Waits Below

2025 · 20 min

A slow-burning, eerie folk horror short that feels like a dark fairy tale told in the Southern Gothic tradition, with a mounting sense of dread.

Tagline: Never make a deal in the dark.
Overview: A Florida scavenger named Dewey Shawn accepts a strange barter from a button-obsessed recluse, leading him to a deserted drive-in where a final exchange with the "one who waits below" threatens to cost him more than he bargained for.
How it feels: Eerie, dark, tense and bleak. Slow-burning and needs your attention.
About: Greed, fate, deception, survival
Content: Mild violence, gore and language. No sexual content.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown

Tone: eeriestrength 3 of 3
darkstrength 2 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
bleakstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: greed
fate
deception
survival
guilt
Places: countryside
small town
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: None
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex none

All scales, 0 to 10

No streaming, rental or purchase options are known in the US.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Genres: horror, mystery
Directed by: Joel G. Robertson
Written by: Joel G. Robertson, Tyson Hanks
Starring: Dewey Shawn, Ami Sallee, Ken Anthony II, Jackie Sonnenberg, Dan Anderson, Tyson Hanks, Max G. Robertson, Andrew Baltes
Runtime: 20 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English