Bugcrush

Bugcrush is a short horror thriller about Ben, a teenager in a small American town who becomes fascinated by Grant, a new student at his school with a rebellious streak and a secretive side. Ben pushes past his own shyness to get close to Grant, and the two begin a friendship. Grant and his friends then invite Ben along on an overnight trip out of town, where he is drawn into their disturbing interests and rituals. What starts as an attempt to fit in turns into something far darker.

The film runs 34 minutes and was written and directed by Carter Smith, his first feature-length credit, arriving before The Ruins and The Passenger. It was produced by Erin Wile through Pollywog Pictures. Josh Caras plays Ben and Donald Cumming plays Grant, with Eléonore Hendricks, David Tennent, Alex Toumayan and Billy Price in supporting roles.

On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 6.4 from around 1,300 votes, while on TMDB it has a 5.8 from roughly 30 votes. The larger IMDb sample suggests a modest but reasonably positive response from viewers, whereas the much smaller TMDB sample points to a more mixed reaction.