Writer, producer and actor Jess Blackwell did not set out to make a holiday horror short film. She and co-writer Abhinay Jakhar simply wanted a project they could shoot in December. That scheduling decision became the spark for Guilty Pleasures, a horror short about a first date that curdles fast.
Jakhar brought Blackwell the original script, already a horror comedy at its core. Once the pair locked their December shoot date, the story clicked into place as a twisted riff on Hallmark-style Christmas romance. Blackwell said surprising audiences is a habit of hers.
“Personally, I love doing that sort of thing where you flip the audience’s expectations about what something should be. So you can say it kind of came about organically!” she said.
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How Guilty Pleasures Went From Script to Screen
Jakhar first approached Blackwell about playing Emily, one of the film’s two leads. Impressed by her read and aware of her producing and writing background, he invited her to help rewrite the script.
“I was really excited to play the character and to try my hand at producing a different genre (I hadn’t done a dark comedy yet), so I said yes!” Blackwell said.
The rewrite process was collaborative. Blackwell kept much of Jakhar’s original material for Arjun, the male lead, and for the darkest beats of Emily’s climax. She adjusted Emily’s earlier guilty pleasures so they read as quirky rather than alarming, building a slower escalation toward the end.
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A Horror Short Film Rooted in Real-World Unease
Despite its horror comedy label, Blackwell said the film leans on grounded discomfort rather than the supernatural.
“Personally, I always saw this film as being 100% real-world unease. It may be a little heightened at times, but I wanted the discomfort to come from the fact that the characters could very well be real people, people you know in your life,” she said.
“After all, you never really know what someone gets up to when they’re alone…” she added.
Setting the story at Christmas, Blackwell said, came from practical scheduling rather than a grand plan. She is already developing a separate feature-length Christmas movie, though that project will lean comedic rather than dark.
Building Tension in a Two-Person Story
Guilty Pleasures unfolds almost entirely as a conversation between two people on a couch. That format forced Blackwell and her collaborators to lean on craft over spectacle.
“Honestly, this is always a challenge. To pull it off, you really need to get a bunch of things working in unison: the performances, the cinematography, the picture edit, the sound design, the colour, and the music,” she said.
Blackwell shaped Emily’s performance with a gradual arc so early scenes give away nothing. Tight, claustrophobic shots kept the camera locked on the couple. The film’s final POV shot then added a jolt to the ending. In post-production, Blackwell adjusted the colour grade, gradually darkening and de-saturating the image as tension builds.
What Guilty Pleasures Says About Modern Dating
Blackwell said horror and comedy both offer a disarming way to explore serious ideas. She wanted the film’s twist ending to carry a message beyond its scares.
“I saw the potential to highlight the hypocrisy that commonly surfaces in our relationships with others: we too often see all the faults in everyone else while conveniently overlooking our own shortcomings,” she said, adding the pattern feels especially common in early dating, particularly in the world of online dating culture.
Her academic background also shaped how she built the characters. Blackwell holds a master’s degree in philosophy, and she said that training sharpened her read on Emily’s self-perception.
“That disconnect between how she perceives herself and how others (especially Arjun) perceive her” stayed on her mind through the rewrites, she said. Arjun’s arc runs the other way, as his view of Emily shifts from cute and flirty to something quite the opposite.
Festival Audiences Respond to the Guilty Pleasures Horror Short Film
Guilty Pleasures screened on a self-funded, low-budget schedule, and Blackwell said she had no idea how audiences would react. The film showcased at the Toronto Horror Film Festival in early June 2026.
“From the first screening, the audience was so invested and engaged, and we received so much positive feedback. People told us they wanted to know more about the characters and their stories, and one audience member even suggested making a web series that follows Emily’s adventures and other dates!” she said.
Blackwell said the response reinforced a lesson about trusting a project’s instincts. She hopes viewers leave the film a little more forgiving of their own flaws.
“I hope their bellies hurt from laughing, and that they are reminded that we are all strange and flawed. We all have quirks and bad habits, some darker than others. So don’t judge yourself or others too harshly; we’re all a little weird and that’s what makes us interesting.” she said.
What’s Next for Jess Blackwell
Blackwell is developing several new projects beyond Guilty Pleasures. She recently secured funding through the Ontario Creates Futures Forward program to develop her debut feature. The horror film, titled The Legacy, could shoot in fall 2027 or spring 2028.
She is also developing a second feature called The Junction. A dark sci-fi project titled Pest Pros could shoot in spring 2027.
For now, Guilty Pleasures stands as proof that a Christmas date can still go horribly, hilariously wrong.
For more, follow Blackwell’s journey on Instagram, and on the Lumida Productions page.
