Rival criminals meet after a botched heist.


CEREBELLUM is used with permission from Erik Bergamini. Learn more at https://erikbergamini.com.


Jack is a skilled thief who works with a team of fellow hardened criminals. But after a complicated heist is botched one that required working with other groups to pull off he and his gang, along with a few outsiders, meet up with the other crews in a scrapyard to regroup and figure out what to do next.

Tensions run high as each faction suspects the other of betrayal, and the mutual suspicion threatens to coalesce into even more violence amidst the accusations. But just as they try to unravel what happened and how, they uncover the truth about their target and realize a more dangerous game is in motion, forcing them to decide between trust and survival.

Directed and written by Erik Bergamini, this dynamic short actionthriller begins at what appears to be a reflective lull in the action, as Jack convenes with his crew and a few outsiders in the scrapyard after a heist has gone wrong. One of them is badly injured, and everyone is in a state of shell shock. Things went wrong, and Jack needs to figure out what happened. The situation is complicated by the arrival of a more volatile ring leader, Baxton, who immediately thinks Jack betrayed them.

At first, it feels as if we as viewers have stumbled into the dazed aftermath of a climactic sequence in a longer thriller. But as the storytelling plays out and Jack and Baxton confront one another, what emerges is a more complicated story, as well as a portrait of two different leadership styles, affecting the web of relationships, loyalties and bonds within each criminal circle in various ways. Jack may be a criminal and a thief, but he's also steadfast, calm and concerned for others in his group. Baxton, on the other hand, is sociopathic, and he has seemed to attract similar types to his group.

As Jack and Baxton wrangle, discover the feds are now on the trail and scramble to figure out what happens next, the storytelling also amps up its genre's characteristic muscular camerawork, polished cinematography and highoctane emotions, all of which churn at full speed to pull us in. All of it serves a dance of trust and loyalty, which only gets more complicated with certain revelations emerge. Played by a restrained, assured performance by James Pulido, Jack is pushed to the borders of his sense of honor, against a man who has none.

As the final confrontation sparks, CEREBELLUM coalesces into the propulsive, exciting powderkeg of an actionthriller it promises, complete with a wellorchestrated shootout. Yet it keeps its eye on the thread of loyalty, which makes for a satisfying examination of the classic theme of honor among thieves. In a world without much honor and integrity, loyalty and trust can still be found in unlikely places and are often the deciding factor between life and death.