Fantastic Fest 2025: Sam Fox's Short Film "Open Wide"
It’s time to spread your legs and get kinky because filmmaker Sam Fox (Fck’n Nuts) is back with another stylish slice of kooky, nightmarish comedy that shines another stark light on an squirm-inducing relationship dynamic. The film appeared as a part of Fantastic Fest’s Shorts Fuse programming Friday night (and later on Wednesday afternoon), a shorts block that seeks to find “the scary in the unsettling everyday.”
Phoebe, a pious young woman questioning her faith, matches with a charming couple on a flirty dating app and discovers that her curiosity has lured her into a threesome from hell.
Open Wide feels like a spiritual cousin to Sam Fox’s 2023 short, Fck’n Nuts (which you can watch here to get a sense of what you’ll be in for). Both films drop audiences right smack dab into their story, with each focusing on different aspects of relationships and managing to make the absolute most out of their single-location setting. They’re both slick, stylish, well-executed (albeit in slightly different ways), and backed by solid scores, and they glide with an effortless pace that keeps you glued to the screen. Oh, and each film is sure to have you squirming in your seat and howling with laughter with the way they entertainingly twist and contort the seemingly everyday into a nightmarish absurdity ripe with comedic quirk.
Where Fck’n Nuts turns a meet-the-parents situation into a hilariously horrifying one where a character’s unflinching love might just be the death of him, Open Wide contorts its central character’s open-mindedness about monogamy into a surrealistic nightmarish game of cat and mouse that may lead to her demise. David Lynch feels like the biggest influential touchstone here; there are red curtains (not too dissimilar to Twin Peaks’ red room), Lara Repko (playing Phoebe) gives off a bit of an Audrey Horne vibe, and the end-credits song has a similar feel to Julee Cruise’s “Falling”; there is a jazzy score complete with a squelchy sax that reminds us of Bill Pullman’s sax solo in Lost Highway (along with Angelo Badalamenti’s bitchin’ score); at one point, the lone source of lighting becomes a flashlight which recalls certain moments of Inland Empire orTwin Peaks and its companion prequel Fire Walk With Me; the deranged,charged-up kinkiness of Vera & Ron (Ashley Smith & Ethan Daniel Corbett) has a tinge of Juana Durango & Reggie from Wild At Heart in their DNA; heck, there’s even a creepy grandmother that pops up — but in Fox’s film she’s humorously sporting a Nickelback tee.
For a 10-minute short film, this is an impressive amount of homage to pack in — and there are, of course, far worse filmmakers to honor in such an affectionate and palpable way than one of cinema’s most singular surrealist masters. So, in a sense, the film feels like a monument to all of the wild and weird and wonderful images and soundscapes that David Lynch has given us over the course of his career, but it’s also filtered through Fox’s own sensibilities as well, and the tone, feel, and execution of the piece is an absolute embodiment of her body of work, which she’s been building for close to a decade (most of which can be seen here). The film also find Fox bringing in new collaborative partners, specifically in Lara Repko, who not only stars as Phoebe but co-wrote the script and served as producer, production designer, and costume designer (alongside Sam Fox in all departments).
At first blush, Open Wide may appear to be all surface level — a young, religious (presumably catholic), but open-minded woman comes to the house of some kooky swingers for a night of carnal pleasure and gets more than she bargained for — but there’s a curious amount of depth that lurks underneath its premise. By turning the positive aspect of open-mindedness into a deliciously sick joke, is it telling us to keep our minds (and legs) closed to unorthodox situations, or is it just showing us the outlandish consequence of when being open-minded leads us astray? With its religious inclusion, is it fatih-affirming or -shattering? Like a good filmmaker, Fox (and Repko) offer no clear answers, pushing its situational comedy to the viewer to chew on, digest, and arrive at their own conclusions as to what it all means, making it not only a fun slice of short cinema to watch but to discuss with others as well.
The script is full of funny lines and opportunities for the cast to go big with their performances, and Fox and team keep all of that grounded in a way that feels at home even in its most over-the-top moments. In particular, Ethan Daniel Corbett is having a ball, and he delivers a memorable performance; he has the look and command of a young (more handsome) Richard Brake, and he showcases a knack for swerving between the silly and scary with the snap of a finger. Ashley Smith shows similar versatility to Corbett, while Repko holds things down as our “straight man,” taking in the mounting nightmarish absurdity with her innocent eyes and letting her body language communicate her character’s uncomfortableness more so than her words.
Aside from the performances, the editing from Greg Jocoy adds to its tension and unease with its instances of glitchy, experimental cutting that butt up against its more conventional splicing. This contrast subtly reflects its characters’ dueling dynamics (conventional vs unconventional), but its experimental moments also help to put the viewer more firmly into Phoebe’s shoes and feel the awkwardness of her situation in a deeper, more unsettling way. Through it all, Fox’s clear vision and steady hand guide the production from open to close. Needless to say, all of Open Wide’s separate pieces stack up to a fascinatingly funny, entertainingly squirmy whole that will crawl its way right into your memory and heart.
For more weird and wonderful posts about Sam Fox, check out the links below!
Open Wide interview (coming soon!)
Fck’n Nuts review
Fck’n Nuts interview
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!