Can Salem Stay Put?

Can Salem Stay Put?

Bruce Von Stiers

The world of crime and violence takes a definitive turn for a teen girl in the film Stay In The Car.

Categorized as a short crime drama, this film is much more. It provides a clash between love and the need to feel safe, between loyalty and independence.

Salem is in her mom's El Camino. She is with her mom, Dee, and a man. Dee and the man, Mike, leave the car to meet someone. Dee tells Salem to stay in the car. Then Salem accidentally sees them perpetrate an act of violence.

Later in the film Salem is instructed to stay in the car twice more. But each time, she feels less safe and is scared. But what can she do about it? Dee seems to care about her safety, but why did she even bring Salem along with her?

By the end of the film Salem makes a decision that will have a dramatic impact on her life.

Amanda Ross wrote the screenplay for the film. Stay in the Car is Amanda's film debut and, as I mentioned earlier, is based on

true events from her life.

The film's director was Calvin Ghaznavi. He previously directed The Revenge of Marco Saint Denis and MARE.

Conrad Holzman was the cinematographer. He was the cinematographer for Oasis, Dumb Deaths and MARE.

The producer was Neela Gerayli. She directed the short drama, Superfan, and was the screenwriter for Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

Ashley Alva plays Dee. She has appeared in numerous short films, including Number Six and The Days After You.

Timothy V. Murphy plays Mike. He appeared in the ensemble comedy, The Fabulous , had a recurring role on Law and Order: Organized Crime and roles in Sons of Anarchy and Snowpiercer.

Lara Hunter plays Salem. In addition to doing voiceovers for a Mattel campaign, she starred in the short films Dead Life and Help Me. Lara is also the daughter of Amanda Ross.

Stay In The Car packs a lot of intensity into a short amount of time. Dee seems to be fraught with concern over Salem's safety. Yet she chose to bring her along for this dangerous criminal activity. Mike is a bit menacing and scary. And Salem is scared but is trying to figure out how to extract herself from this situation.

A press release for Stay In The Car states that Amanda Ross was drawn to stories of survival and resilience, all of which provided inspiration for the film. With those stories and her own real-life experiences blended in, Ross has done well with her first film. The story was believable and the acting was very good.

Stay In The Car has been featured at a few film festivals, becoming a finalist at the 2025 Canadian Shorts Film Festival. And it will be featured at the upcoming CREDO23 Film Festival.

To find out more about the film, visit https://stayinthecar.com/

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