Private Project

The Unfortunate Beneficiaries

When a father and son reunite at a will reading, they are tempted to do an impossible task: make out with one another in public for an inheritance of half a million dollars.

When it comes time to do the deed the father can't do it without confessing to his son about his wrongdoings in the past. But it's once his son says that he still loves him that they are able to work together. After thirty grueling seconds of father and son kissing, the father can't help but think of his son's mom and gets an erection. Once they receive the money the father leaves and the son is left with the need for therapy.

  • Kyle J Leal
    Director
  • Kyle J Leal
    Writer
  • Brooks Lalley
    Producer
  • Brice Heller
    Key Cast
    "Chase Butler"
  • Martinez
    Key Cast
    "Frank Butler"
  • Jeffery Morgan
    Key Cast
    "Randall Wellman"
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    comedy, dark comedy
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    4,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Savannah College of Art and Design
Director Biography - Kyle J Leal

Kyle Leal is a meek little man who has been interested in film for as long as he can remember.

When he is not in school, Kyle spends his time running around in a green spandex suit and calls himself the “Green Guardian”. Since he’s a white guy in college, he also has a podcast with another average white college male.

Kyle is an editor and a DP and now a self proclaimed writer and director. Some compare him to great directors such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, but you probably shouldn’t.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When I was 13 years old my uncle died, right after I stopped seeing my dad’s side of the family. As a young teenager I was faced with a real life decision on what to do. Do I go to the wake and pay my respects? Or do I skip it just so I don’t have to see family members I don’t want to see anymore? I decided to go and in the long run, was most definitely a mistake. When I arrived I was immediately surrounded by my family members and I was trapped in the room with my uncle, forced to wait until my dad got there so he could see me. When my father arrived, he was so happy to see me he dragged me outside and we took pictures together. Like we all weren’t mourning, we were actually happy. It felt so wrong, but I was the only one that felt that way. A room full of adults, but yet I felt like I was the most reasonable person in the room. That day wasn’t even about my uncle anymore. It was about my dad trying to reconnect with me, and I most certainly didn’t want that.

That same day, my father said to me “I will do anything to get you back.” It’s a phrase that has haunted me for years and this film is making fun of that statement. I want to get over that trauma, and I never was the type of person to do it in a serious manner. I want to make fun of it, to keep it light.

My film is about an emotionally unavailable son, Chase, who reunites with his father for the first time at a beneficiary hearing. Although he doesn’t want to show up, he is strapped for cash and looking to make some money quickly. When the lawyer reads his grandmother’s will, he soon realizes that something isn’t right. The son must choose to accept an inheritance that comes at a large price, or go back to his lackluster lifestyle. This film is important to me because I have a nonexistent relationship with my father and it has haunted me since I stopped seeing him back in 2012. My film is about a broken father and son relationship that has to put their differences aside and french kiss in a public setting, to earn half a million dollars.

I am driven to make this film because I know it is one my father would hate.