One For the Road: A Bite-Sized Horror

Two guys find themselves in a diner at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday. A man walks in, tattered and filthy, muttering “Old Mill Road” to himself. The waitress thinks he needs help. Sometimes, it just ain’t worth it to be a good samaritan. Just ask our two leads in One For the Road, the newest short film from documentarian Daniel Carsenty, making his transition into fictional horror. Based on the short story by Stephen King, the film is swift, surprising, and leaves you hungry for more, validating the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Taut With Tension

Booth (Alexander Flores) and Took (Travis Hammer) enjoy their late-night meals in the quiet diner, chatting up the waitress Gale (Katie Adler). The mood shifts as a stranger (Richard Clarke Larsen) enters, his clothes torn and his nails filthy. Gale is afraid to handle him alone, so Booth and Took talk to him, but they don’t get much more than “Old Mill Road,” “Help,” and “Family” before he walks out and stands by their truck. Against their better judgment, the men decide to help him find his family, but they should have listened to their gut.

In One For the Road, Carsenty expertly creates a dark, gritty world that fits the content, with the tension drawn out and punctuated with just enough jump scares to keep you on your toes. The script, written by Corey Slater, captures the essence of King’s work without replicating it, allowing this short to speak for itself. While the lack of handholding exposition is appreciated, I found myself longing for a bit more of the lore surrounding the tale, perhaps even hoping a sequel or continuation might be on the horizon. If Carsenty continues to craft moods such as this with his future works, we can expect good things.

One For the Road will be screening August 11, 2024 at HollyShorts.