Short Film Review: OVERTIME. Directed by Steven James Kilper

Trapped in a fluorescent maze, an overworked employee realizes the office building may not want her to leave.

Review by Andie Kay:

Having a job that you don’t love is rough, having to stay beyond the usual 8 hour day is a nightmare. Steven Kilper taps into that nightmare with this bite sized horror film that he wrote, directed, edited, and created the visual effects for. What starts out as a typical leaving work scenario turns into an inescapable maze of fluorescent hell.


I loved the premise of this film and thought it was a wonderfully original idea. Steven executed so many things fantastically. The cinematography was great and I really appreciated the visual effects of the text messages and how he displayed them on screen. The soundscape was perfect and the way the staircase was shot was absolutely ingenious! Katrina Reese is our overworked, trapped employee and I liked her performance, although I wouldn’t have been as calm as she was if I was in her position.


That moment where all the lights start going out one by one is so frightening and I loved the build up but I wish the ending was her screaming NO in that text message and having everything go back to normal. The elevator doors ding as they open and she leaves having set some boundaries.