Ben (Stuart Rial) is anxiously preparing for an important dinner with his childhood friend, Cooper (Timothy Grove), in Felicity Pickering and Micheal Batchelder’s short film, The Confessional. Trying to calm his nerves, boyfriend Zane (Oleksy Zubach tells him that he’s overthinking everything.
Ben wants to make a good impression as Cooper has recently become wealthy in tech and might be able to fund the film he’s been working on.
The evening starts cordial and festive when Cooper arrives with his fiance, Kim (Addy Dosunmu). But the subject of their past and Ben’s trauma quickly sours the evening.

“Cooper has recently become wealthy in tech and might be able to fund the film he’s been working on.”
The Confessional is an example of what we tell emerging filmmakers all the time—make your movie. Pickering and Batchelder’s tale is simple and straightforward, with four friends having dinner. What should be a joyous reunion quickly breaks down as moments of the past are brought up. The filmmakers quickly establish characters and context as they guide us through the story’s arc.
For The Confessional, the end result is a story that’s well told with solid performances backing it up. When watching as many short films as I do, I always look for some element of that film and story to pop. Filmmakers must employ bold and imaginative strategies to distinguish themselves in the fiercely competitive field. Next, I’d like to see how the filmmakers challenge themselves in their next project to stand out. There will be a next film if I know filmmakers like I do.