From Omeleto.
A family has dinner.
SUPPER is used with permission from Joshua Ryan Dietz. Learn more at https://joshuaryandietz.com.
A set of siblings have gathered at dinner, joined by a few cousins and other relatives. But what seems like a family gathering reveals another agenda: they’ve gathered to legally emancipate their brother and kick him out of the household.
What begins as a formal, even polite affair quickly spirals into chaos, and in the emotional melee, dark secrets and deep-seated resentments surface, shaking up the family in more ways than they expected.
Directed and written by Joshua Ryan Dietz, this dark comedy short is an unexpected, jarring and audacious take on the family dinner drama. The family gathering offers a classic dramatic set-up that often works like a crucible to magnify and intensify emotional conflicts in a group, making for unexpected and energetic collisions of agendas and characters. But with its sharp writing and equally bold performances, this narrative ratchets up the dark humor, intensity and irony to such a degree that viewers will be asking themselves "Wow, did they really go there?" amid their laughter and disbelief.
At first, the gathering seems civil, even slightly formal, though there’s something in the painterly, shadowy visuals and slightly off-kilter framing that cues us that something might be off about this family. The room itself feels cloistered and isolated from reality, almost claustrophobic in its textured, rich decor. As the dinner unfolds, the sharp writing has a patina of spiky formality as well, as the real reason for the gathering comes out: they’re kicking out one brother of the family, legally and emotionally. From there, emotional chaos erupts, with each seemingly minor explosive expression or reveal setting off increasingly bigger (and funnier) ones.
As the family, the ensemble of actors — led by SCANDAL stalwart Jeff Perry as the patriarch and including Dale Dickey, Aleksa Palladino, Sam Rechner, Andrew Perez, Joshuah Arizmendi, and Henry Samiri — find the balance between stylized comedy and genuine agony and pain. As the family argues over who was their father’s favorite child, each line feels loaded with both love and malice. As the conversation seesaws from dark humor to real threat, the storytelling doesn’t shy away from the cruelty that often lies beneath family dynamics. It makes for one low blow after another — until it all reaches a breaking point.
Unflinching, daring and almost primal in its emotional bloodlust, SUPPER layers moments of genuine shock, heartbreak, and even violence to capture this most dysfunctional of families. It balances absurdity and sincerity to explore how love, loyalty, and cruelty can coexist in the most intimate of spaces, and despite its stylistic bravura and eccentric flourishes, it hits upon an essential truth about families. In the end, we all want love, belonging and the approval of our loved ones — and we’ll do almost anything to get it.
