There aren’t many things scarier than facing months or years of social distancing, especially when you’re stuck in your house by yourself. But what if maybe, just maybe, you weren’t actually alone? Shazam director David F. Sandberg has released a new short film about a woman who’s worried someone, or something, is hiding out in her home.
This is the second short horror film Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director Sandberg and his partner Lotta Losten have released since social distancing began over two months ago. The first one, “Shadowed,” starred Losten as a woman being stalked by a mysterious entity. This follow-up, “Not Alone in Here,” likewise stars Losten facing a different and perhaps scarier threat.
It starts with Losten’s character locking her front door—or at least remembering she locked the door—before returning to see it wide open. She spends the rest of the film in a panic, moving from room to room with a knife in hand, trying to see if she’s really in danger or it’s all in her head. What is the truth? You’ll have to watch to find out.
It’s a fear so many of us can relate to. Thinking someone has snuck into your home, believing you’re being followed, or something else that puts your health and safety at risk. Oftentimes, we try to convince ourselves that nothing is wrong, or that we are prepared to face the threat if one exists. And during a time when our homes feel like the only safe place we have left, this kind of horror feels extra scary.
It’s no surprise Sandberg latched onto this subject for his latest short film. His 2013 monster-in-the-dark short Lights Out—which he later transformed into his debut feature film—was an early indicator of how incredibly good he is at preying on our everyday fears.
Sandberg is set to helm a sequel to Shazam, which has been delayed because of the pandemic. In the meantime, here’s hoping he treats us to more relatable (but still spooky) horrors like this.
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