Are you struggling with student loans? Well, have I got the solution for you! Grab a scalpel, an innocent victim, and let’s get started!
Today, we’ll be talking about the horror short, “Sell Your Body,” by Jaanelle Yee. It is now streaming on Alter’s YouTube channel, and you can also watch it at the end of this article. It might inspire you to get your own script ready for the next Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
The Plot
Hannah is a med school drop-out working as a bartender, but still not earning enough money to pay off her student debt. So she’s decided to try a new gig to get some extra cash. In order to do this, she needs to find somebody on a dating app. She swipes right on a couple looking for a three-way. When they get together for sex, that’s when her job starts, and things are about to go horribly wrong for the couple.
Nadira Foster-Williams as Hannah in “Sell Your Body”
Her Side Hustle
This is a take on an urban legend of people stealing others’ organs to sell on the black market. Except this is told entirely from the point of the perpetrator, who is portrayed in a sympathetic light. This type of storytelling helps to humanize this seemingly despicable character by making her actions understandable. This also includes her frequently talking directly to the viewer, which not only allows us to know how she thinks, but the conversational style allows us to see her almost as somebody we know.
But its main purpose is to make it a more topical story of the legend, by focusing on the problem of student loan debt. The main character directly tells us about her struggles, and how bad the system is, and reinforces her desperation. It lays the blame on society for leading somebody to do the unthinkable. Obviously, in real life, most people with college debt don’t actually steal organs. But many could feel like they would do anything for money.
And through all this, Hannah has a lot of conflicted emotions that make her more believable. She’s excited to get the money, and happy when the job is done. In the most ugly part of the job, she still tries to keep it light with a sense of humor. But she’s also sympathetic toward the couple, and is at times fighting off her guilt. Despite initially finding them sleazy, upon getting to know and like the couple a little more, she still needs to justify what she’s doing to them. (“I bet the experience will bring them closer together.”) The performance by Nadira Foster-Williams sells this character and her conflicting emotions, while making her charismatic and likable to the audience.
What Makes It Killer?
“Sell Your Body” is a topical take on a gruesome urban legend, that handles its subject matter with a dark sense of humor to go along with the anger at the system. This girl may have dropped out, but she still found a job where she could use her doctor training.
Contact the Filmmakers
