Zack Fonzovs’s short film ‘Eat, my love‘ is the kind of horror film that works effectively to set the stage for an idea, ask questions, and then step back and let the audience fill in the blanks. This seems a little counterproductive if you’re coming at it from the perspective of a finished story, aka a feature film. As a short, however, it’s exactly what you want. Not always answers. Not even a full story. Just enough of the suggestion of one that you keep thinking about the possibilities.
If Eat, my love, does that effectively, it’s because of a combination of charm and shock. Kelly Bastard is perfect as the woman we’re rooting for, and yet who ends up being the villain. Ironically, even after she straight up kills her date so her actual boyfriend can feed on him—horror, you know—I was still kind of on her side. Dating in 2026 feels like a soul-sucking exercise anyway; I respect a woman who takes initiative.
Jokes aside, Bastard goes through the gamut of emotions in a very short time. There’s awkwardness, guilt, sadness, fear, and that disturbing moment of happiness and love at the end that makes it all worthwhile. And yes, there are a few deeper interpretations of what’s going on, all perfectly valid, but they are only accessible to us as viewers because Bastard makes us interested enough in what’s going on to think about the short as more than just a quick thing we watch and then forget.
Aaron Rota and Hudson Williams do their jobs in this well, too, though Rota has a lot less to do. The moment of realization of what’s going on is actually delicious, though. I feel bad for him, but I also don’t, and that’s more about how the story is being told than who the character is. If the victim were a woman, it would be a cautionary tale, the type all of us have heard. It’s a man, though, so the little subversion of the narrative works to make the tale a lot more interesting.
Then Williams comes in, with the unhinged part of this short—the part that goes more body horror than psychological horror. He’s got way less time on screen than the other two actors, but he does as much as he can with a few lines and a couple of looks that give context to the story.
Is it okay? No, not really. No matter what his character says. But did you also find yourself kinda intrigued by this relationship? There’s something wild about you comforting your girlfriend after she kills a man so you can feed on him, something she clearly has done before and plans to continue doing. In fact, it’s just wild enough that it makes you want to know more. And then, as all the best shorts, it ends.
As someone with a particular affinity for short films, my favorite kind are always the ones that leave me feeling like, whatever the plot may be, I would watch an entire feature film based around a character or a dynamic. And just for the look Bastard gives the camera right before the title card appears, I’d take an hour more of what happens here. That’s a win.
Eat, my love is available to stream on YouTube.
MORE: Here are other short films starring Hudson Williams you can watch!
