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Follower Review
Image Credit: Hilltop Studios
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Heather Drew– Sarah
Patrick Devaney– Detective Crawford
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by Scott W. Perry
Screenplay by Scott W. Perry
Produced by Slick Devil Entertainment
Not Rated
Runtime– 13 minutes
Watch it here starting at noon EST on April 3rd, 2026.
Follower, written and directed by Scott W. Perry, is a terrific thriller short film that is making its debut on YouTube to watch for free after a mega successful film festival run. Featuring a seemingly simple set up, Follower builds amazing tension over its thirteen minute runtime and concludes with a shocking twist that you will absolutely not see coming.
Follower stars Heather Drew as Sarah, a devoted acolyte of the New Meta Society and its leader Andrew. As the short begins, we see that Sarah is in what appears to be a sparse police interrogation room. It’s just Sarah, two chairs, a table, and window blinds covering a window in the back of the room. We then meet Detective Crawford (Patrick Devaney), a sternly dressed cop who also, in a way, shows off a bit of humanity. Detective Crawford is there to get answers concerning the New Meta Society, its leader, and what, exactly, Sarah was doing as a member of the group. Over the next ten minutes or so, we find out that Sarah’s devotion to the group was absolute, she loved group leader Andrew and completely believes in its mission and ideals, and that Andrew couldn’t possibly be a bad guy. If that is what you believe, according to Sarah, you are mistaken. At the same time, Detective Crawford digs into Sarah’s devotion and tries to get her to admit to the terrible things she did in Andrew’s name. The New Meta Society is a cult, and its members are in the grips of a madman. Will Detective Crawford get Sarah to admit to what she did? Will Sarah admit that the New Meta Society is not a group to be admired and that Andrew is a monster?
What’s great about Follower is how simple it all seems. It’s just two people in a room, with one person trying to get answers and the other person doing her best to hide as much information as she can from her dogged pursuer. Director Perry focusses on each character’s face as the interrogation progresses, occasionally pulling back to show us that what we’re watching is just two people in a room. The tension grows and grows as we keep going back and forth between Sarah’s face and Crawford’s face. Crawford then introduces a straight razor to the discussion. It was a murder weapon. How the heck is that going to figure into the rest of the movie? Like I said in the opening of this review, you will not see how this short concludes.
Heather Drew does a fabulous job as Sarah. You can tell that she’s trying to stay strong throughout the duration of the interrogation from Crawford, hiding what she knows. You can also tell that her pride in New Meta Society leader Andrew isn’t a put on, she really, really believes in Andrew’s ideas, whatever they are. Will Sarah be able to keep her cool while also keeping Andrew’s secrets? And Patrick Devaney does a great job as Detective Crawford. He comes off like a “by the book” cop looking for answers, and he will do what he must in that interrogation room to get those answers. And I can say that Detective Crawford does a very good job getting the answers that he needs.
I originally saw Follower during its film festival run when it was a part of the final year of the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival (that festival is now known as Amazing Fantasy Fest). I saw Follower on a big screen in a real deal movie theater, and it was without question one of the best films that I saw during that festival. Seeing it again on a much smaller screen via the Slick Devil Entertainment YouTube page, Follower is just as powerful and thrilling. And now that it’s available to everyone via that YouTube (well, it will be available starting at noon EST on April 3rd, 2026 via the Slick Devil Entertainment YouTube page), you need to see it, too. So that’s what you should do the second Follower is available. You need to see Follower.
See Follower. See it, see it, see it!
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: None.
Explosions: None.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A crying woman. Two people in a room. Blinds on the back wall. A back and forth conversation that’s really an interrogation. A straight razor. More back and forth. A straight razor threat. Hugging. A forehead kiss.
Kim Richards? None.
Gratuitous: Police interrogation. The New Meta Society. Talk of “The Message.” Graphic crime scene photos that are just out of the audience’s view. Talk of loyalty.
Best lines: “Do you know who this man is?” “Can you identify this man?” “He did help me. You’re just trying to make it sound like you were there.” “What can you tell me about the New Meta Society?” “We were all special to him.” “Andrew. Does. Not. Kill. People.” “No. He said he was going to change the world through love.” “I confess.”
