One wrong turn, zero water, infinite dread — this 8-minute nightmare will make you paranoid about shortcuts forever.
A dramatic parable of choice and resulting consequences. Synopsis: A man is traveling alone in his car in Southern California. The year is 1947. He stops to look at his road map. The map warns him that no one should turn off the main roads without inquiring locally. The driver notices what looks like a short-cut on the map. He turns onto it. Soon his car has overheated and he is stalled - miles away from any help. The traveler walks away from the road apparently hoping to find another short-cut, cross-country. He brings no hat, no canteen, no provisions.
Cinematography
Bleached desert emptiness that swallows the frame whole.
Direction
Christensen stretches 8 minutes into eternal, sweaty panic.
Director
T.C. Christensen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Christensen shot this while still in film school at BYU, using borrowed equipment and a $200 budget.
This silent parable channels 1950s civil defense films and Biblical cautionary tales into pure American anxiety.
US
