THE OCCUPANT | Omeleto

A drone operator encounters a UFO.

Galkina is a drone operator sergeant on duty when she gets an alarm. As part of a secret military program hidden from the public, her work uses nuclear-powered drones to lure alien objects into orbit, and then immobilizes and captures them.

But when one such object is lured to earth and takes the bait -- and Galkina loses her connection to her commanding officer -- she is forced to make decisions quickly, and questions just what is real and what is not.

Director Hugo Keijzer, along with writer Phil M. Howe and producer Maurice Schutte, have created a superbly crafted, dynamic and suspenseful sci-fi thriller whose storytelling grabs viewers from the first moment and holds their attention with expertly calibrated suspense and drama.

Though there are references to "alien objects," the short doesn't lean on any VFX work or explore deep philosophical territory, like many sci-fi films. It's really a propulsive piece of cinema, combining muscular camerawork, an effective score and precise performances to put us in the moment of Galkina's crisis, navigating her dilemma right alongside her.

Essentially the story is one suspenseful sequence, but it centers around one split-second decision that must be made in the most perilous of circumstances. The writing gives us just enough information to understand what Galkina is facing, but like her, we're only privy to what we've been told. When she loses her connection to her commanding officer -- and another voice enters the fray, one that contradicts her understanding and training -- she must decide quickly what to do, and essentially whether or not she can trust what she is seeing. Her decision treads the line between safety and possible catastrosphe, but it's not an easy one to make.

The ending moments of THE OCCUPANT give rise to a mystery and concern that clearly is designed to intrigue viewers and pique their ongoing interest. The title, of course, gives away that this is the opening salvo of a much larger story, and the ambition and scale of the production clearly are feature-level, beginning with the opening wide-view shots of a foggy, mysterious landscape. But as a self-contained piece, it also does its job well: it portrays one narrative dilemma with panache. But solving one problem opens up a whole other realm -- and draws viewers expertly into a whole world of danger and intrigue that they will likely want more of.

[sonkeh]

I love it when actors actually speak their roles language and not english with an accent

[Kikazino]

The fact that they speak russian makes this so much more enjoyable and i dont know why

[gotzee]

The sad thing about these short films is that they aren't full-blown movies

[saud]

Good news: Discovered Omeleto!!
Bad news: Discovered Omeleto at work!

[harshitagarwal]

Honestly, this script is way too good for a short movie. It deserves a full length movie.

[shanecrawford]

As a military officer in Canada, who has some dealings with drone operations. I found this video very true to form, additionally I love how this kept me on the edge of my seat. When can you say that, I look forward to the next instalment.

[aliscander]

Great! As Russian I liked the fact that Russian actor played roles, and the author didn't show us with vodka, balalaika and ushanka. Спасибо большое за фильм! Очень понравился!

[Atombender]

Can't believe no one mentioned Stanislav Petrov, because this movie is partly based on his actions during the Cold War.

[feedmatrix]

I need an explanation! Ok, so she tries to lure a UFO (probably aliens) with a nuclear drone into the radius of an EMP blast in order to knock it down. However, the UFO takes control over the comms, acts as her commanding officer and tells her to fly to the military base and to not turn on the EMP. She follows her orders not knowing she is talking to an immitation of her CO. She is then told to "crash?" into the base (so everything there goes nuclear), but at the last second she decides to not follow the order, tries to fly away but loses control (she also spots another flying object on her radar). Everything goes black, the drone crashed into the woods (but did not explode), suddenly the real CO breakes into the bunker and tells her everything is ok but that the voice she was talking to was not him.... Ok so until that point I kinda understand but what happens after just confuses me. What was the last thing the saw on the radar? Was it the civilian helicopter? If it was then why did it speak english and who's voice was it at the end? Why did everthing go black when she lost control of the drone? Did the EMP go off? Did the UFO crash? Was that it's plan? why? Could it be that the REAL CO told her to crash in order to stop the alien from taking over the world?

[janenguyen]

I've came to realize that short movies like this actually is higher quality and have real russian actors. Mean while in Hollywood movies they can't even bother to hire real russian actors to play, with horrible russian accent that native speaker can't even understand.

[Yellow-Rose]

One of my all-time favorite omelette films. There's no jump-scares, but I love the creepy overtone. Also the people who wrote and produced this short film, I can tell care a lot about the details. It's brilliant.

[victorrus]

I actually was in Syktyvkar few times because lived Komi region for 20 years, and nature in film is very similar to original. I'm impressed with quality of details and clear Russian language of actors. Please continue the series.

[PlexHvH]

can this become a movie, god damn this story line would be godly.

[kicknchickn]

I did some digging, and found several Variety articles discussing the awards this short or longer version is up for. I think that the helicopter portion of this short got added is a preview for something else. The articles say that "The Occupant" is a story of a female geologist who's helicopter crashes in the wild and discovers she is not alone. No mention of this short. Google the writers name and you can read the articles for yourself. This was a fantastic little gem and would like to see more of it without meddling by any big studios. The will only screw up this wonderful piece .

[savingyou]

Весьма захватывающе и интригующе!
Спасибо, что взяли актёров без акцента и хорошо поработали над армейским языком, на это приятно смотреть.

[camtisxr]

This is why i hate watching omeleto this whole thing could be an succesfull movie

[elliecr]

0:10 That is the most realistic and depressing snow I have ever seen in short films.

[dhjoubert]

Maybe the voice telling her to crash was the real Major. The aliens came into the base and took the form of her officer. The alien is now in the base. The real Major, tried to get her to bomb the base with the drone to kill the aliens who had landed there. Why would the alien craft crash if she didn't activate the EMP? Her Major saw what was happening. It was too late to do the EMP. He decided to crash the drone into the base to kill the aliens. The helicopter crash was a coincidence and in the end when you hear the base reply to Danny in the helicopter, it is the aliens who have now taken over the base. Their reply to the helicopter sets the scene for a follow-up movie. - Just a thought.

[burneracc]

And that's why kids, we don't have nuclear powered planes.

[jackpast]

I’m not sure I understand this 100% but the sound effects, music, dialog and her acting kept me glued to my phone. Well done!