STIFF is an avant-garde, genre-bending short about an ancient, withered man who wakes from years of stillness, struggling to reclaim his lost vitality. The film explores themes of decay, stagnation, and movement.

Director’s Vision for ‘Stiff’

This was our first short film (with a budget higher than five bucks), and our goal was to take a big swing with a small idea. I first thought of the concept years ago as I was going through a rough mental patch. One late evening, trying to do something vaguely therapeutic, I lit some candles, rolled out a dusty yoga mat, and put on some classical music. The piece “L’italiana in Algeri” by Giacchino Rossini came on. The soothing music suddenly began building suspensefully as I was struggling to touch my toes. Thinking about how silly I looked, I found myself smiling for the first time in days. Something about that moment snapped me back to life. I thought it all might make for a funny film. I told my brother Jackson about the idea, and he agreed. Years later, here we are.

The structure of the film was built mostly around the music, to the point that Rossini felt like a silent co-writer. We wanted to experiment with contrasting atmospheres—mixing dark, brooding moods with bursts of life and humor, much like classical music often does, much like life itself often does. Jackson and I love when a film subverts expectations, so while the tonal shift halfway through may have felt jarring to some, it was always intentional.

As first-time filmmakers, we knew things would go wrong—and they did. That’s why we wrote something contained: one character, one location, no dialogue. Still, the process was chaotic and full of lessons. Thankfully, we had an incredible team that showed up and gave everything. The film wouldn’t be what it is without them.