Our Last Trip is a psychological horror short about how childhood trauma shapes who we become, and what we pass on.
The story follows a drifting young man who returns to the lakeside cabin where his younger brother died, planning to burn it to the ground. What he finds there pulls him back through fractured memories of his mother, his brother, and the version of himself he's spent years trying to outrun. The film sits in the elevated horror lane of Hereditary, The Babadook, and I'm Thinking of Ending Things, where the real haunting comes from the truths a family refuses to face.
The script is finished. Christopher Lind is attached as Director of Photography. The project has already earned recognition on the festival circuit, including:
• Semi-Finalist, 2025 HollyShorts Film Festival (Oscar-qualifying)
• Semi-Finalist, Outstanding Screenplays Shorts Competition
• Finalist, New York Script Awards
• Finalist, Best Script Award London
• Official Selection at Sunny Film Festival, The Flight Deck Film Festival, and "Hang on to Your Shorts!" Film Festival
• Top 7% of all scripts on Coverfly
I'm Blake Van Curen, a writer-director based in New York City. Our Last Trip is my proof of concept for a feature version I'm developing. The short shoots in late spring or early summer 2027, with a festival run beginning that fall and an online release after.
Funds raised here support a 4-day shoot in the New York area: cabin and lakeside location, an underwater sequence, child performers, a controlled fire effect, and the visual ambition the script demands. Your contribution helps put a first-time director's vision on screen and gives this story the production it deserves.
Thank you for being part of it.
Learn More: https://blakevancuren.com/