JUMP CUT Short Film Turns Hollywood Ambition Into a Terrifying Sci-Fi Time Trap
Time anxiety hits hard in Jump Cut, a short sci-fi thriller that taps directly into the creeping dread of watching opportunities slip by while you’re still standing in the same place.
Directed by James Martin Morrison, the film centers on Maya, a struggling actor in her 30s who feels trapped in a loop of auditions, rejection, and the gnawing fear that her window is closing.
Maya’s life runs on hurry and hope. She races from one audition to the next, stuck in a career that refuses to move forward. That changes when she lands the lead role in a bizarre experimental film run by an eccentric director. It’s the kind of break she’s been waiting for. In reality, it’s the start of something far more disturbing.
What begins as a professional opportunity slowly unravels Maya’s sense of time and control. Moments vanish without explanation. Scenes skip ahead. Entire chunks of her life feel missing.
As her commitment to the project deepens, her grip on reality weakens, and the promise of “true art” starts to feel like a trap with teeth.
The film plays with sci-fi and psychological thriller elements to explore how time can be manipulated, stolen, or erased, especially within industries that thrive on ambition. It isn’t just about fractured timelines. It’s about power, exploitation, and how easily someone’s life can be edited without their consent.
The director shared in a statement: “Where does the time go? Coming out of the fog of the pandemic, this question felt more urgent than ever. Many of us went months or even years without seeing loved ones in person.
“We emerged to find that despite so many parts of our lives being suspended in time, it had marched onward without us. I was left with a strange feeling that my time had been stolen by some unseen force. That unseen force was the inspiration for Jump Cut, a surreal nightmare film.
“It’s a cautionary tale about how people - especially women in the entertainment industry - are taken advantage of in the pursuit of their dreams.”
If you’re into sci-fi that leans into psychological horror and leaves you unsettled long after it ends, Jump Cut is absolutely worth your time.