YOU CAN’T CONTROL WHAT SHOWS UP AT YOUR DOOR

A woman experiences a delivery scam that grows increasingly strange and personal. An official selection of over 40 film festivals.

It was the middle of the pandemic. I was living alone, at the peak of my reliance on online shopping. And the Valentine’s Day gift I bought for my girlfriend just arrived. I brought the box inside and opened it. What I bought was not inside. Instead, I was holding two used shin guards. Stained. Foul. I threw them out of my hands. I obsessed over this delivery the rest of the day. Who would’ve done this… WHY would they have done this? Bringing this package inside, it felt like someone had broken into my home without being anywhere near me.

At work, Jamie Lee Curtis called me and told me her sister experienced a strange delivery of her own. She received walking sticks that she didn’t order… but had meant to buy. These were scams we KNEW were mundane and harmless… but they still felt personal. Invasive. They dug our way into our brains. And they happen to everybody. This was my way into telling RETURN TO SENDER, a story about the desire for control over our lives.

Julia is the most personal character I’ve written, drawn from my family’s history of overcoming addiction. Julia white-knuckles. She can only ask for support from customer service reps. She wants to control as much as she can see. Yet as savvy as she is, she fixates on things, the same way that I do. And like her, I would be completely undone by a delivery scam.

WRITTEN/DIRECTED BY: Russell Goldman

PRODUCED BY: Jamie Lee Curtis, Jake Katofsky

STARRING: Allison Tolman, Emma Pasarow

Past Screenings

WORLD PREMIERE: LA SHORTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (OPENING NIGHT SELECTION), July 22, 2022 at the Laemmle NoHo

EAST COAST PREMIERE: BRIDGEPORT FILM FESTIVAL, July 23, 2022 at the Klein Memorial Auditorium

GEORGIA PREMIERE: SOMETHING WICKED FILM FESTIVAL, July 30, 2022 at the Southern Performing Arts Academy in Lawrenceville, GA - BEST SHORT

RHODE ISLAND PREMIERE: FLICKERS’ RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Aug 10, 2022 at the AS220 Gallery in Providence, RI

OPENING NIGHT SELECTION: HOLLYSHORTS FILM FESTIVAL, Aug 12, 2022 at the TCL Chinese Theatre

FLORIDA PREMIERE: POPCORN FRIGHTS, Aug 20, 2022 at the O Cinema South Beach

ATLANTA PREMIERE: ATLANTA UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, Aug 21, 2022 at the RollCall Theater

PENNSYLVANIA PREMIERE: OIL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL, Sept 10, 2022 at the National Transit Building in Oil City, PA - BEST ACTRESS

PHILADELPHIA UNNAMED FILM FESTIVAL, Sept 22, 2022/6:30pm ET at Theatre Exile - BEST SHORT

TEXAS PREMIERE: FANTASTIC FEST, Sept 24, 2022/11:10am CT & Sept 26/8:45pm CT at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar

ARIZONA PREMIERE: HORRORIGINS, Oct 1, 2022/1pm MT at the Galaxy Theatres Tuscon

BEYOND FEST, Oct 1, 2022/4pm PT at the Shudder Theater at the Los Feliz 3

ATLANTA HORROR FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 7, 2022/8pm CT at the Ammazza Edgewood

HIGHLAND PARK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 7, 2022/9:30pm PT at the Highland Theatres in Los Angeles, CA

INDIGO MOON FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 8, 2022/12pm ET at CAMEO Art House Theater in Fayetteville, NC - BEST SHORT :

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE: HEX AFTER DARK, Oct 14, 2022/7pm at the Cineplex Cinemas Metropolis

INDIANA PREMIERE: HOBNOBBEN FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 16, 2022/11am CT at the Fort Wayne Cinema Center

OREGON PREMIERE: PORTLAND FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 16, 2022/9pm PT & Oct 23rd/5:45pm PT at the Lloyd Center

SCREAMING OSTRICH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 22, 2022/3pm at the West Newton Cinema - BEST ACTRESS

OHIO PREMIERE: NIGHTMARES FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 22, 2022/12am CT at the Gateway Film Center in Columbus, OH - BEST SCREENPLAY

HORRORHAUS FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 30, 2022/5pm PT at The MAIN Theater in Santa Clarita, CA

FILMQUEST, Nov 3, 2022/8pm MT at the Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo, UT

NORWALK FILM FESTIVAL, January 20, 2023 at the Wall Street Theatre in Norwalk, CT

LYTHAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Aug 27/1:30pm at the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham, England