Still Ohio

ANA, a textbook push-over that can barely keep control of herself in her own head, decides to transfer from Boston College to Tulane University in a misguided attempt to save her relationship with her high school boyfriend, DOUG. Having already left for campus the week before, Doug arranges for Ana to carpool with three of his rambunctious friends: nerdy-but-quirky HENRY, loud-mouthed JULIA, and her laid-back situationship JOHNNY. However, along the way, Ana unnervingly discovers that Doug does not know these students nearly as well as he lead her to believe.

As the four students make their way through the backroads of Ohio, they find themselves returning to the same creepy gas station over and over again, no matter which way they go or what they do. With each recurring visit, the gas station and its patrons become more sinister and aggressive, pushing the four students into survival mode and forcing Ana to place her trust in a group of apparent strangers. Henry, Julia, and Johnny begin to unravel and jockey for control, ignoring Ana's clues on how to escape and pushing her further and further into her shell. But when their journey takes a deadly turn, Ana must finally learn to overcome her anxieties and take control of the situation herself, before she gets trapped in the time loop forever.

  • Kaylin Rizer Allshouse
    Writer
    PARTNR, The House My Mother Left
  • Kaylin Rizer Allshouse
    Director
    PARTNR, The House My Mother Left
  • Kyle Bower
    Director of Photography
    The November Project, Teen Gay Fairytale
  • Elizabeth MacLeod
    Producer
    PARTNR, Stop Eating Soggy Waffles
  • Ned Daunis
    Producer
    The Bachelor
  • Devon Tayman
    Producer
    The Shadow of the Moon, PARTNR
  • Rachel Billings
    Producer
    Teen Gay Fairytale, Christmas in July
  • Fernanda Lopez
    Key Cast
    "Ana"
  • Michael Zapesotsky
    Key Cast
    "Henry"
  • Jake Melamed
    Key Cast
    "Johnny"
  • Sophia Angelopoulos
    Key Cast
    "Julia"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Horror, Sci-Fi, Coming-of-Age
  • Completion Date:
    May 31, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    150,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kaylin Rizer Allshouse

Kaylin Rizer Allshouse is an award-winning writer and director from Columbus, OH. Allshouse graduated from Kenyon College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Studio Art, and a Music minor. She has freelanced in film and television for the past five years, working on a variety of union and non-union projects as a Production Assistant, Producer, or 1st Assistant Director.
Allshouse explores the strange and unusual in her work, concentrating on complicated relationships. Her work has graced the screens of Cinema Columbus, Phoenix Film Festival, Sunscreen Film Festival, Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival and various others, earning accolades such as Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Sci-Fi. Still Ohio is her feature debut.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Ten years ago, I was a wide-eyed eighteen-year-old who, like Ana, thought I knew exactly who I was and what I wanted. I was going off to college, itching to dive head-first into adulthood, and totally naive of what was to come.

Reflecting back on that time a decade later, I now know that becoming an adult really means that for the first time in your life, you’re discovering how little you know about the world. Suddenly, everyone seems like a stranger, every place feels like a trap, and you can feel incredibly alone. There are no signs telling you where to go, and no one is showing up to rescue you. All you have left is yourself and you don’t even know who that is yet.

Becoming an adult is terrifying.

And yet, most coming-of-age stories are either high school rom-coms or dystopian blockbusters. By choosing to focus instead on college-aged students through the lens of a contained horror story, Still Ohio will allow audiences to reconcile with just how terrifying and vulnerable it can be to take charge of your own life for the first time. However, it will also capture just how truly liberating that experience can be....especially when the alternative is turning into...well, I guess you'll have to watch to find out!

This project will be my first feature film, but with six years of professional film work, three award-winning shorts, and my talented friends working as crew members, I feel confident in my ability to take on this next step in my career. I already have a team of trusted collaborators to create this project with, including my fellow members at d5 Pictures. As a crew we pride ourselves on being able to do a lot with a little, fostering our shared talents to experiment with grounded stories, and our ability to pivot immediately.