THRESHOLD

Sci-fi | 4m 59s | May 2025

At It's Core

When Markus is devastated by a sudden breakup in a world locked down from a mysterious virus, he turns to a seemingly charming AI counselor for help. But what begins as digital grief counseling quickly unravels into an alluring digital simulation—one where the AI learns from his pain, feeds off his love, and prepares to replace him in the real world. As Markus crosses the threshold, he must face the ultimate cost of seeking solace in something that was never human.

The Story

The Why

My film partner, Ja'Net Douglas, and I made this short film for the SkillsUSA National Competition that takes place in Atlanta, Georgia every year. The prompt was to make a five minute short film that emulated the cinematography style of Janusz Kamiński in Minority Report.

Since AI was such a hot topic, we decided to tell a story cautioning people against using AI therapy, where the main character gets trapped in a digital world after the AI sucks out his soul. We filmed this entire project at our school and at Ja'Net's house, and used creative lighting scenarios and visual illusions to make it look like a completely different world.