Trevor Hurt Someone is the kind of short that gets under your skin fast, not because it’s trying to shock you, but because it refuses to look away. The whole film is basically a tense negotiation between two friends at a bar, circling the events of last night and the fallout of an assault. There’s no comforting distance here. It plays out in real time, in tight conversation, with every sentence feeling like it matters.
What impressed me most was how responsible the film feels with its subject. It doesn’t treat assault like a twist or a plot device. Instead, it shows the way perspective can shift depending on who’s talking, who’s minimizing, and who’s quietly collapsing under the weight of shame. The victim’s mindset especially lands hard, that awful, familiar place where the person who was harmed is the one trying to make sense of it by turning the blame inward. It’s truthful in a painful way, but never careless.
The performances are the engine that makes it work. Both leads are outstanding, but the portrayal of Trevor is the most unsettling part of the film. He’s clearly in the wrong, and yet he’s just charming enough, just casual enough, to make you understand how people like this keep getting away with it. That “almost likable” energy is eerie. It’s a performance that doesn’t ask you to forgive him, it just shows you the mask, how easily it slips into place, and how dangerous that can be.
And visually? This short looks incredible. It’s one of the most cinematically rich shorts I’ve seen. The warm lighting in the bar, surrounded by darkness, makes the conversation feel secret, claustrophobic, and intimate, like you’re sitting one booth over and you’re not supposed to be hearing any of it. The dialogue is crisp, full, and controlled, and the whole thing feels incredibly well produced. Honestly, it has that rare vibe where an indie project looks like a big studio tried to make something small and precise, but with more honesty.
By the end, I felt awful, and I mean that as a compliment. The film leaves you exactly where it should: with the reality of what this does to someone like Sean, and how long healing can take. He comes across like someone trying to shove the memory down just to get through the day, and the film doesn’t pretend that a single conversation fixes anything. There’s a fake-out ending that gives you the version you want, the one that feels fair, the one where consequences show up on time. But the actual ending hits harder because it’s the one we see far too often. Trevor gets awaywith it. Life continues. And the fear is that it’ll happen again.
Trevor Hurt Someone is exceptionally made, powerfully acted, and emotionally brutal in a way that feels intentional and honest. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s a meaningful one, and it sticks.
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