A woman pulls up to a remote house in the woods. Her goal is to detox from electronic media for 48 hours. Things go off the rails in this peaceful setting. “Detox” by filmmaker Alex Hanno from a script co-written by Wes Hopper is playing now on Omeleto’s YouTube Channel.
Stock up on your oat milk, find your Zen, and breathe. Then turn off your phone and get to work! Submit your own script to the next Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
The Plot
The film begins as Shelly arrives at a slightly shabby house in the middle of nowhere, sipping her coffee and taking in the dulcet tones of podcaster Dr. Hal Levison. His voiceover walks Shelly through a digital cleanse, step by step.
She walks about the house taking in the furnishings in the living room, eyeballing the utensils in the kitchen, and other nooks and crannies. Shelly is nonchalant about learning the good doctor’s lessons. She sneaks a peak at her phone to see a post from an influencer, FitMom_718, with her smiling family enjoying a weekend getaway. Shelly immediately responds with a snap and a post announcing her digital detox. Her phone begins to buzz. Hearts, smiley faces, and other emojis float on the screen. As she leaves the living room, the camera pans to a window and the blackness outside. Suddenly something trips the outdoor flood lights.
Shelly awakes the next morning. Dr. Levison’s voiceover resumes delivering a calm message of resisting the urge to connect. Shelly heeds this and places her phone in a tin box before taking a nature walk.
She wanders through the woods. Branches and sticks litter the forest floor. Shelly makes her way to a placid lake. Sirens cut through her meditation. On her way home, Shelly comes across a burned circle of grass. Her attempt to commune with the outdoors has left her feeling unsettled. As she sits tensely in an Adirondack chair in the backyard of the home, a series of cars speed down the road past the house. Shelly becomes increasingly worried. Finally, the root cellar doors fly open catching her attention. Shelly goes to investigate.
What she finds leaves her panicked and racing to find her phone.
What Lies Underneath
Detoxing from social media can be hard and, in Shelly’s case, somewhat deadly, although the viewer never knows her true fate. The draw to likes is strong for Shelly. Her need for affirmation and connection from total strangers (and to outshine some of them) is more comforting to her. Being alone with her own thoughts is an uncomfortable act of self-care and, in a lot of ways, feels more dangerous to us as the viewer.
There is more than a kernel of truth in the dénouement’s absurdity once the threat is revealed. Pro tip: Pause the film when Shelly finally retrieves her phone, and her missed messages begin popping up on the screen and READ THEM!
What Makes It Killer
Hanno’s direction and the smartly written script from Hanno and Hopper grounds the twist in “Detox” in reality in an almost allegorical look at social media’s pull on modern society.
Caitlin Morris has no speaking lines in this film. She has to convey ambivalence, FOMO, increasing dread, and then hilarious resignation without saying a word and she is absolutely fantastic. Bill Prokopow’s excellent voice work as Dr. Hal Levinson ties the plot together.
“Detox” is a stinging satire on our obsessive social media culture wrapped in a clever package.
Watch it below.
Director: Alex Hanno
Co-Writer: Wes Hopper
Cast:
