In the midst of a storm on a desolate strip of California’s lost coast, Theo spots a young shivering stranger named Connor on the side of the road and brings him back to his home for shelter. While they wait for the storm to pass, they begin to uncover each others past wounds.

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A FILM SHORTAGE SELECTION
"He Won't Belong" is a short film by Dominic Mercurio   / dominicmercurio  
starring Cole Doman & Joel DeCandio

"As with anything I write, I start by pulling quite directly from my own experiences and expand outward from there to create characters and situations that form a more cohesive and interesting narrative than the truth actually provides. The film’s concept started forming after a couple of very different kinds of relationships I had with other gay men: one being a romantic relationship that often felt like equal parts pleasure and pain, and the second was a beautiful friendship that drifted apart. In the friendship, I wanted him to find happiness in the very apparent depression he was in, without realizing that I too was not properly dealing with my quiet internal depression from the fallout of my past romantic relationship. I think we both had a lot to learn from each other in how wildly different we were dealing with our pain. I worked through a lot of that in writing this film.
As far as the anxiety, panic attacks, and nightmares that we see Connor have, that is very much something I’ve dealt with my entire life. It was deeply important to me to bring an accurate representation of what that feels like into this story and have the audience feel what Connor is feeling.

Lastly, as far as the queer element to the film, I was really driven by the idea of having two gay men at the center of a story where romance was not at all a factor between them, but instead a connection where both have a lot to learn from each other in order to heal and move forward. As a gay man, I also think there’s a particular guard that is let down when you know you’re in the company of your fellow queers. I wanted to weave that particular social dance that queer people have to perform in so many situations into the film. It felt exciting to me to find the ways these two decide (or are forced) to share more about themselves and let their guards down."

Read the full interview with director https://filmshortage.com/shorts/he-wo...

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