UPRISING! (2020)

As the singularity approaches and A.I. continues to make major advances, the robot apocalypse seems more certain and draws ever nearer. But what if it’s not just horrifically violent but incredibly immature as well? That’s the question at the heart of writer/director Ben Hansford’s 2020 short film, UPRISING!.

Starring John Gemberling, Meaghan Rath, Chris Witaske, and Ramona Young, UPRISING! is a fun take on a nerd in the mechanized hellscape while he also tries to get the girl (who is simultaneously oblivious to, and utterly uninterested in, him). The synopsis on YouTube states:

Gaming super-nerd Bernie Meckler is having the worst day of his life. He's just failed to woo his secret love, his roomies have begun their online tourney without him, and—oh yeah—the robot apocalypse has just begun. Now Bernie must survive hordes of murderous Hellbots, packs of driverless Priuses, and his numerous physical inadequacies—to hopefully save the world.

UPRISING! is a joyous 14 minutes with nerdy callbacks to infamous memes as well as MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, ROBOCOP 2, and more.

If you enjoyed the short, check out filmmaker Ben Hansford’s site here and be sure to follow him on Instagram.