Mitzi Akaha is fantastic in the short rom-com horror My Favorite Murderer, a film that nails it in tone, while still leaving you wanting more than the 9-minute runtime allows.

Hopeless romantic Gayle (Mitzi Akaha) also loves her some true crime, so much so that her loving boyfriend Cameron (Skyler Bible) throws her a surprise murder themed birthday party. She thinks she has found the one, and all is good in the world, until one night her life is turned upside down.

Who doesn’t love it when your other half throws you a party that perfectly encapsulates your favourite hobby? Gayle is having a slightly morbid whale of a time at her birthday party, which turns into an investigation of a murder mystery. Life is as good as it’s going to get, yet somehow, after being asked to move in with the host of the party, her boyfriend Cameron, she finds that cherry on top.

However, all birthday balloons need either popping or deflating, and with writers Annette Cirelle and Martin Spanjers, they find an inventive, humorous and entertaining way to burst Gayle’s birthday high. Melding a rom-com with a horror film is never an easy task, yet thanks to the strong script, Tina Carbone pulls it off with her latest short film. Already a director who knows her way around short horrors, there is a wonderful playfulness to My Favorite Murderer that pulls you in.

There are a litany of moments throughout the film that just work, be it the chaos of what Gayle sees outside and her panicked run back towards her home, being cut with one static shot with no music and only the sound of Gayle’s terrified wails, brings as much a chuckle as it does strike fear into you. The fear comes from knowing no one is checking why this girl is making such noises in the middle of the street, leaving her truly alone in this situation. It’s little moments like that that work so well.

For as good as the script and direction is however, the main strength of My Favorite Murderer is Mitzi Akaha. Here she effortlessly adopts the unlucky-in-love trope girl from rom-coms, while also being just weird enough to make her love for true-crime and murder mysteries believable. Then she has to take that and almost play a final girl in a horror. A lot is tossed her way, and she balances it all off so well. You never doubt her character. I mean, we all likely know a girl like Gayle, so making that work on screen isn’t the easiest thing to do. So, when we get that ending, you just applaud her for pulling it off so well.

lso, a big shout-out to costume designer Caroline Allander, who nailed the costumes for the opening party. Bringing a sense of the characters being put together just enough to make it obvious which murderer or victim they are, without it looking like a proper cosplay… Exactly how people would dress for such a party. Little touches like that are extremely fun to catch.

Tina Carbone has crafted a short that is both perfect in its current length and something you desperately need more of. You could easily watch a feature film version of this story, especially with where My Favorite Murderer leaves us by the credits. You need more of the story with these characters and their situation. Yet, if this is all we get from this story, then it becomes a perfect little capsule of an idea that you just rock with.

My Favorite Murderer is currently showing at the HollyShorts Film Festival 2025.

★★★★

*Photo courtesy of Fernando Phillipi

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