A mother stands over a crib in the dark, her hands raised, the wall behind her scattered with the star-specks of a baby monitor's night vision.

RADIOLAND  ·  STORY ONE

INTRUDER

21 MIN  —  BLACK & WHITE  —  2026

Within a shared dream, a couple is forced to relive the nightmare of losing their child.

THE SCREENING

Lights off.

The film plays best in the dark, with the sound up.

THE FILM

When Jane hears someone abduct her child through the baby monitor, she desperately searches her home — only to uncover the nightmare buried within her marriage.

Shot over four sleepless nights in a single house, INTRUDER is a psychological horror told in black and white — a story of grief, marriage, and the rooms we're afraid to open. It is the first installment of the anthology series RADIOLAND.

A man in silhouette whispers to a featureless mannequin before glowing curtains.

“The child is never seen.”

STILLS

Jane looms over the crib, hands raised, surrounded by monitor static stars.
01 / 06
Jane and Frank stand apart in a dark hallway, lit by a single doorway.
02 / 06
Frank whispers into the ear of a faceless mannequin at the window.
03 / 06
The mannequin's torn face frames a distant bedroom where Jane sits.
04 / 06
A kitchen knife pressed against a chest in hard light.
05 / 06
A pale figure stands at the foot of a bed striped with window light.
06 / 06

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

I got married a year ago. As a filmmaker, the idea of having a child terrifies me. The thought of never having one frightens me even more. I want that future. I am also afraid of what it might cost.

INTRUDER came from putting that fear inside a house and letting it grow. The child is never seen. Jane and Frank may be grieving something they lost, or something they are still too afraid to choose. Everything lives somewhere between memory, possibility, and nightmare.

— Austin John Smith, writer / director

Austin John Smith, in a ball cap and glasses, looking off-frame in warm light.
AUSTIN JOHN SMITH — LOS ANGELES

THE FILMMAKER

AUSTIN
JOHN
SMITH

Working in LA for over a decade, Austin John Smith made his way through the camera and art departments, ultimately landing as creative assistant to George Tillman Jr. for over seven years. Assisting on Marvel, Disney and Sony productions, Austin has also written and sold over four horror feature scripts to MD Pictures in the Indonesian film market.

Today Austin works in the commercial and documentary space and serves fellow artists by running a film club through Mosaic Houses, designed to help filmmakers create the short film of their dreams. INTRUDER is the arrival of a new voice in independent psychological horror — and the first story of his anthology series, RADIOLAND.

WHY THIS FILM

INTRUDER came when I stopped waiting for the right script and budget and started creating with the people already beside me. With a handful of friends, we spent four sleepless nights wearing whatever hats were needed until the house felt like the shared nightmare of the couple at the heart of the film. The film exists because everyone said yes and trusted the process. To me, that is independent filmmaking. A group of people choosing to play, choosing each other, and building a strange and beautifully dark world for an audience to enter.”

CREDITS

STARRING
Alice Lee & John Thomas Benson
WRITER / DIRECTOR / EDITOR
Austin John Smith
PRODUCERS
Austin John Smith · Joanna Lee Smith
John Thomas Benson · David Yanez
CINEMATOGRAPHER
David Yanez
SOUND DESIGNERS
Austin John Smith · Joseph Immanuel
Aaron Weits · Joseph Pecson