Director Nikhail Asnani Something Round explores the grief of losing someone close to you in an inventive way. When a psychologist name Lena learns that their former lover Lindsay gets engaged, she must navigate the void while treating her patient Dan and adjusting to a new roommate Katie.

This plot is compounded by an element of science fiction—Lena pulls down the moon and becomes nearly inseparable from it—that at once recalls the imagery of George Melies’ A Trip to the Moon while imbuing it with a sense of foreboding. In many ways, the energy from the glowing orb becomes a replacement for that emptiness, despite Lena still being unable to move on from the failed relationship.

Jason Greene’s portrayal of Lena carries the film, from the character’s interactions with others to her internal monologues. There is a sense of danger that exudes from Lena’s personality, one that hinges on the frailty a person experiences when a part of their identity shatters.

This strong central performance is complemented by an atmospheric piano-based score by Tristan Chilvers. Brightly colored costuming and color timing that brings out brightly filtered colors elevate this production. Their combination evokes the colorful palettes of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo or Mario Bava’s giallo films.

As a graduate of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Asnani’s assured direction and penchant for elevated horror can be seen in his recent short film Hello and the web series pilot My Boyfriend the Boogeyman. However, Something Round best captures the narrative potential of what independent elevated horror may have to offer. While the other two productions experimented with minimalism and avant-garde techniques, Something Round’s narrative benefits from the ensemble cast, allowing Asnani’s ideas to fully live on screen. By the end, Lena’s character arc possesses a satisfying cyclical nature. In addition, its 16-minute runtime allows different plot points and themes to coalesce naturally to create a haunting work of horror, identity, and belonging.

Something Round serves as Asnani’s most realized work to date and secures his place as a young genre filmmaker to watch.