By Dr. Laura Wilhelm, LauraWil Intercultural
The Girl In The Street, a new horror short, featuring a SAG-AFTRA cast, written and directed by Chris Paicely and Miles August of Swym Good Films, dares to consider the dark realities that can occur during the full light of day. A young man leaves his dying sister to pursue a dream job in the suburbs and soon encounters a masked and bloodied stranger in the street. His life starts to take bizarre supernatural turns that cause him to question his own goodness.
While the film’s cast features many Black actors, the questions it raises transcend race or region. Horror is horror regardless of who inflicts it or where it occurs. From the Holocaust to the current homeless crisis, the comfortable Western world has often turned its gaze away from the horrors of human suffering. The banality of evil definitely includes indifference. Social pressure to conform can stifle creative and critical thinking about how to act.
The image of the limping girl in the street unsettled this reviewer for hours. She could have been a camp survivor, a rape victim, or a battered woman. Though her progress is slow and painful, she seems determined to survive and tell her story.
The Girl In The Street stars Shawn Roundtree Jr. (Emperor of Ocean Park), Whitney Blair Masters, D’Andra Laneé, and Chris Anthony with a vocal cameo by horror legend Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street). This small taste of their many talents inspires confidence about their filmmaking futures.
More about the film:
Director’s Statement: The Girl in the Street is a story about morality—specifically, the thin and often painful line between being a “good person” and doing what’s simply convenient. At its heart, this film confronts the haunting consequences of selfishness and complicity. It asks: What are we willing to ignore to preserve our own comfort? What happens when we choose ourselves at the expense of others? We were drawn to this story because it taps into something deeply human—the quiet guilt we carry when we turn away from someone in need—and pushes that tension to a horrifying extreme.
The film also explores the insidious power of conformity and indoctrination within suburban spaces. Inspired by films like Get Out and The Wicker Man, The Girl in the Street is set in a world that feels familiar on the surface but quickly reveals a twisted, ritualistic undercurrent. Like those films, we wanted to explore how place and community can act as both sanctuary and snare. Through Malachi’s journey—from his urban home to a quiet small town with dark traditions—we challenge the audience to consider how morality can be weaponized, redefined, and enforced under the guise of goodness. This is horror that tests character. This is horror that dares to ask: What does it cost to be a good person? – Chris & Miles
Touting a phenomenal cast and cinematographer Lana Mattice, an experienced narrative and commercial filmmaker, the film is polished by top-tier teams from Fotokem (Disney, Strange Darling) and Esho Sound (Anora), and scored by Pablo Fuu (When Evil Lurks).
In 2022, Chris & Miles wrote and directed the award-winning sci-fi short ALUS, about a broken relationship and the power of artificial intelligence in our day-to day lives, and in 2023, they directed the psychological horror short BOUND, about a former dancer being pursued deeper and deeper into her home.
