Unexpected Item | Award Winning Short Film | Romantic Comedy

UNITED KINGDOM
A supermarket. A self-service checkout. The strangest piece of life advice you'll get all week.

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Henry can't bring himself to ask out the cashier he likes. At the self-service till, the machine starts talking back... unsolicited, oddly empathetic, surprisingly persuasive. Whether he's losing his mind or finally finding it is a question for you to answer after watching the film.

Director Stephen Gallacher leans into magical realism with a colour-drenched, vibrant world. The tone is warm without being cute. Olivia Colman voices the till (and she's having a great time with it).

Jamie Blackley plays Henry on the front foot of his own awkwardness, with Isabella Laughland as the cashier and Andrew Ellis as Sid.

Unexpected Item won Best Film at Anaheim International and Cambria, Best Comedy Short at Orinos and Independent Short Awards, Best Short Film at Vegas Movie Awards and Falcon International, and Best Romantic Comedy at Top Indie Film Awards, with selections at Norwich, Carmarthen Bay, Queen Palm, Austin Comedy and JellyFest.

A short film about courage, connection, and the small voices that push us toward each other.

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Directed by Stephen Gallacher, written by Chris Croucher.

Starring
Jamie Blackley – Henry
Isabella Laughland – Nicky
Andrew Ellis – Sid
Olivia Colman – Till

Crew
Director – Stephen Gallacher
Writer – Chris Croucher
Producer – Sashi Arnold
Executive Producer – James Dean
Director of Photography – James Leigh
Composer – Blair Mowat
Editor – Josh Mallalieu
Casting Director – Emily Jacobs

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CenterFrame Curated is our short film showcase. Filmmakers submit their work through CenterFrame and we review every film. Selected films are featured on the CenterFrame YouTube channel — we handle the upload, the presentation and the promotion, and the filmmaker keeps 50% of all YouTube ad revenue the film generates. No fine print.

Some selected films are also considered for TV broadcast as part of the CenterFrame Short Film Showcase, in partnership with three regional UK channels: KMTV in Kent, Latest TV in Brighton, and London TV. Broadcast films reach audiences via Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky, and the full cast and crew receive a broadcast credit.