The Eighth Commandment

During the attempted robbery of a Catholic church, one crook finds more value in her own personal freedom than in anything she can take from the parish.

  • Joshua Olson
    Director
  • Joshua Olson
    Writer
  • Stann Waithe
    Producer
  • Eddie Locks
    Producer
  • Brie Mattson
    Key Cast
    "Amy"
    Stay Out Stay Alive, Desperate Housewives, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
  • Kevin Steinberg
    Key Cast
    "The Priest"
    Seinfeld, Frasier, Larry Sanders
  • Christian Kool
    Key Cast
    "The Man"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 15, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    7,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Joshua Olson

Joshua Olson grew up in South Dakota surrounded by the vast emptiness of the Midwest plains. Here, the monotony of life inspired Joshua to elevate the mundane through the subtlety possible in cinema. His art seeks to find an emotional truth in stylized ways, making even the absurd innately relatable.

Currently, Josh lives in Hollywood with his cat, Pope Pius XIII, where the weirdness and spectrum of life inspires him daily. He has two moods, carpe diem and ay dios mio.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I grew up in the church and have equal interest in respecting its history, and a gleeful sense of play in poking fun at its power. That is what carried "The Eighth Commandment" from a script a colleague wrote in film school to a project that I rewrote, self-produced and financed with friends and family for my first foray into narrative short filmmaking. The church is never really about the building but rather the people in it, and in this short, Amy and her partner commit a variety of sacrileges before she ultimately finds her own redemption and personal freedom.