Backstage

A gender-swapped Me Too story of power, intimacy, and manipulation, the short film Backstage is as tense as it is poignant. Directed by Emile V. Schlesser (see Kowalsky), who co-writes here with Jonas Brand, the film explores the difficulty of intimacy in professional settings, as well as the emotional loopholes it leaves for predators who use their position and power to influence and control people.

Jonathan Joél Albrecht plays Lukas, a budding actor whose journey to opening night becomes fraught with vulnerability when his director, Cosima (Sascha Ley), uses her position to place Lukas in delicate and inappropriate situations.

It's a film made in the little moments, like Cosima not fully opening the door for him, or Lukas checking his breath before entering her hotel room. These subtle moments of manipulation and control manifest in an anxiety-ridden actor. The age gap creates an immediate tension for the audience, and we see Cosima employ numerous communicative and physical tactics to steer Lukas where she wants him. As an actor used to being directed, the boy sadly doesn’t refuse until it’s too late.

Backstage is smartly filmed and edited to reflect Lukas’s growing instability; the camera intimately frames him in tender moments of angst, and struggles to keep up with him when he’s looking to confront Cosima. A show-stopping scene where the sound drops out is perhaps one of the most memorable moments in a short film I have seen in 2026. The lighting keeps a warmish glow throughout, allowing the “heat” of the relationships onscreen to cook and slowly ramp up towards the looming performance.

Phenomenally acted, the intense chemistry and hostility between the characters of Lukas and Cosima are brilliantly rendered by Jonathan Joél Albrecht and Sascha Ley. It’s the latter’s subtlety and finesse in creating a shadowy yet believable predator that feels most impressive. The supporting cast of actors and theatre crew members cement the piece as a high-quality, impactful drama.

Short films with themes of sexual harassment in the workplace have a duty of care to avoid undermining the sensitive topics they explore. Emile V. Schlesser shows himself to be more than up to the task with Backstage. This is affecting storytelling with an execution that will long outlast its running time and give audiences a powerful insight into the (tragically) simple ways professional human relationships can navigate into dark corners, leaving their victims with few places to turn without help from others.