A dead dog, satanism, love and the power of friendship — these are the elements that create a sinister and satisfying ceremony in the short film, “Are You There Satan? It’s Me, Bryan.”
Written and directed by Nolan Rutland, a 2025 Columbia graduate with a bachelor’s degree in film and television, the short film was recently selected to screen in two film festivals: the sixth annual All The Laughs Comedy Awards in Atlanta and the Austin Short Film Festival.
The film follows Bryan, played by Justin Duggan, a member of a satanic church that, week after week, attempts and fails to summon their dark lord to perform minor miracles — like reviving one of their members’ dead dogs.
Bryan, however, doesn’t care much about these rituals or the church at all. Instead, he has his eyes on Mary, a member of the cult played by Ashleigh King. His best friend Mark, played with charm by Gino Angelini, urges him to ask her out.
While the short plays like a coming-of-age romance within a quirky setting, Rutland said the story draws from his own experiences with religion.
“This idea of these kind of like hapless Satanists who are trying to do things the same way everybody else is doing it, but one guy in the back has some questions for it,” Rutland said. “I felt like it was a way to shepherd in a lot of ideas that were interesting to me, like me being raised Christian, but no longer being a religious person.”
Beyond his relationship with faith, Rutland said the film’s colorful supporting cast was inspired by his friends, especially those in the metal and punk scenes.
Punk has been making a comeback recently, from Australian band Amyl and The Sniffers selling out Chicago’s Salt Shed this May, to 2025 film releases like James Gunn’s “Superman,” illustrating that kindness is punk rock.
The subculture is screaming that it’s here to stay, and not without reason.
“I think there’s just a natural feeling of wanting to resist right now, and the idea of being anti-establishment is suddenly very popular again,” Rutland said. “As that Superman line says, punk isn’t just thrashing. It’s being a nice person, you know? Anytime the establishment is trying to push this narrative that we are crueler people, it’s saying, ‘actually, no, we’re closer together than we are apart.’ And I think that’s punk.”
This attitude pierced more than just the writing and direction of the film, but also the costumes and set design, which feature black clothing, leather jackets and pentagram banners.
Marcel Hondras, a sophomore undeclared major focusing on film score production, who served as the production designer of the short, said the style’s return is no accident.
“Punk rock and metal, that type of aesthetic, is coming back because we’re really into it,” he said. “And it helps me be more optimistic that we can see even more styles in those films and TV, especially at Columbia College Chicago.”
Aside from punk subculture, the shorts’ makeup, done by senior film and television major Nahyoung Hyun, took inspiration from goth-stylings, particularly for the film’s love interest, Mary.
“She’s a love interest, so I wanted a lot of attention to be brought to her eyes. So she has a fun eyeliner look. And for that, I was inspired by Elvira,” she said.
The satanists’ designs push even further. The film’s priest, played by Chase Hanley, wears an upside-down cross on his forehead and heavy makeup that distorts and emphasizes his features.
“I knew I wanted something pretty big and bold for him, especially since he’s one of the main characters,” Hyun said. “So I feel like putting a cross in the middle of his forehead was kind of fitting. The actor was super easy to work with. He was very comfortable.”
While most of the crew joined through classes or social media calls, two actors — Duggan and Hanley — were Rutland’s coworkers at a local theater. Hanley, who specializes in improv comedy, spoke highly of Rutland’s directing style and said he gave him the freedom to go big.
“The most that you typically get is, you know, you’re in the moment and then some awesome things come out in these tidbits here and there,” Hanley said. “But he really allowed us to like, fully play, like, here you go!”
The film’s visual style, however, is not directly inspired by satanic, goth, or punk subcultures. Bryce Jeong, a senior film and television major with a concentration in cinematography and the film’s director of photography, said Rutland wanted the look to be softer, in contrast with the intense subject matter.
“He wanted it to give more support group, which I thought was pretty cool. One inspiration of his was ‘Fight Club,’ kind of grungy lighting, dim lighting, kind of dirty,” he said. “Although it’s a film about Satanism, he really wanted to stray away from the classic black robes, torches, stuff like that.”
These contrasting tones are the short’s secret weapon, allowing dark subjectssuch as religious indoctrination and suicide to be handled in a breezy, comedic way, tied together with Bryan and Mary’s romantic arc.
Romance is a theme that echoes in Rutland’s work, one of his first short films, “Issues” being about a comic book fan getting with his local comic shop’s clerk via a session of nerdy, cutesy, reference-filled flirting.
Rutland takes this aspect of his work from his own struggles with romance: giving his characters the happy ending he’s looking for.
“I grew up with a lot of self-esteem issues and kind of feeling like a romantic person, but always looking for somebody and not quite finding it,” he said. “And so I kind of write these stories in which the character and the story could have the happy ending I sort of wish I could have.”
Friendship, love and punk rock are the elements that define, not only “Are You There Satan? It’s Me, Bryan,” but Rutland’s work as a whole. Influenced by his friends, comic books, personal struggles and anything that he finds interesting, he looks to the future more inspired than ever.
“Look for inspiration outside of just art. And I don’t mean paintings, but like, be political,” he said, “You gotta have something to say, because if you’re only consuming other art, you can only regurgitate other people’s thoughts. But if you are learning all the time, then you have something to say.”
Copy edited by Vanessa Orozco
