A career hitman is cosmically outmatched by his next target as he is unknowingly sent to kill the DEVIL.

A hitman meeting quickly plunges into a battle between good and evil, light and dark, and the gray in between. Director Eli Stern brings us a rather elaborate and outside thinking to the typical hitman scene, where a professional assassin is outmatched by his next target as he is unknowingly sent to kill the DEVIL.

Underneath the black comedic, and at times quirky, plot line, we wanted to make a film about power and who’s really in control behind the scenes. More than that, though, we wanted to start a discourse on human agency, religion, and fanaticism.

Whiskey Sour is smoothly set up through a strong character role who takes on the largest part of the premise – which is magnificently portrayed by Ariel Eliaz, and by Donnie Lyons as his counterpart. Everything comes together through a series of cleverly placed shots to unveil the unusual storyline bits, creating confusion and suspense, but most importantly intrigue – which drives us through the almost spiritual journey.

Thanks to the team at Manhattan Film Institute, we had a wonderful skeleton crew and top of the line equipment (we shot on the Sony A7s), which made the whole short possible. We spent months in pre-production but only 5 hours to shoot nearly 20 camera set-ups in a single location. To achieve the big tracking shot, designed to convey the shift of power between the hitman and the victim, we rigged up a dolly with two C-stands and a long piece of 2×4. From the beginning we all had one vision for the project: we wanted it to come out as a complex thriller/noir/pop mash-up.