«JUST 5 MINUTES» by Maxwell Wang

What would you do if Death showed up at the restaurant where you work and calmly told you that today is your day to die? In Just 5 Minutes, debut director Maxwell Wang starts from this absurd and irresistible premise to craft a fast-paced short film, tinted with dark humor and sharp surrealism.

Luca Venditto (Logan Turk) is a failed filmmaker, crushed by student debt and unfulfilled dreams, now scraping by as a restaurant worker. But an ordinary shift takes an unexpected turn when Phil Graves (Quinlan Welch), a calm, eerily formal man in a black suit, appears to deliver the news: Luca’s time is up.

What follows is a desperate last-minute negotiation with fate. Luca is granted five minutes to piece his life back together—missed chances, unresolved relationships, mistakes he never had the courage to face. Behind the theatrical absurdity of the setup, in the face of the ultimate reckoning, Wang seizes every opportunity for poignant and precise reflections on the meaning of life, on what truly matters, and on the fragile but vital hope of making things right before it’s too late.

Just 5 Minutes feels like Gen Z’s answer to It’s a Wonderful Life: a fast-forwarded, offbeat, and strikingly modern version of the classic “what if I had done things differently?” tale. Maxwell Wang, a young director with impressive technical skill and bold narrative instincts, delivers a film that entertains, jolts, and moves—never taking itself too seriously, yet always hitting the mark.

A short that stands out for its clarity, inventiveness, and heart. The kind of film festivals should spotlight and share—because in just five minutes, it makes us laugh, think, and maybe, just maybe, look at our lives a little differently.