WRITER + DIRECTOR JACOB ARDEN

I WILL COME TO YOU

Orphaned as a baby, JULIAN (19) grows up in a Catholic boys’ home. As he uncovers his family’s buried past, he becomes fixated on a new couple living in a secluded farmhouse. Under the guise of a singing lesson, Julian gains access to ESA (48), a celebrated opera singer, whose poise and control are quickly eroded by his unsettling confidence. What starts as discomfort slips into a brief, charged intimacy before Esa realizes she has made a grave mistake. Julian refuses her orders to leave. When he reveals a gun, the encounter turns dangerous. As her husband HENRY (52) returns home, Julian calmly departs, leaving behind a legal document and a photograph. Esa discovers the truth: Henry gave Julian up at birth. Julian is his son. As Henry races into the woods after him, a single gunshot echoes, sealing a devastating reckoning decades in the making.
With I Will Come To You, I set out to create an art film that explores choice and consequence through the prism of intimate relationships. I was drawn to the compressed intensity of the short film format—where every gesture, silence, and image must carry weight. From its inception through the screenplay and into direction, my aim was to build an enveloping world: a mysterious fusion of allure and terror, shaped and propelled by visual symbolism.
The film is conceived as a study in contrasts—an operatic clash of lives that are at once opulent and austere. Drama emerges not only through performance, but through color, landscape, and voice. I was interested in how environment mirrors psychology: how rugged natural surroundings and rural isolation can heighten longing, ambition, regret, and deceit.
At the center of the story is a triangular collision between three characters whose pasts and desires intersect with quiet volatility. Esa, a former opera star portrayed by Rebecka Johnston, carries the resonance of a life once lived at full volume. Julian, a mysterious and troubled young man determined to leave his mark, is brought to life in a striking debut by Dylan Douglas. Henry, a man shadowed by his past transgressions, is portrayed by Peter Facinelli with a sense of restrained inevitability. Their interactions form an intimate yet volatile study of ambition, love, and moral reckoning.
While the narrative may feel familiar, it unfolds with an undercurrent of unease—an atmosphere of foreshadowing and lingering doubt. The film deliberately oscillates between intimacy and ambiguity, offering a voyeuristic examination of devotion and deception. I wanted each character to stand at a crossroads, compelled to confront the consequences of their choices, even as the audience is left to interpret what is spoken and what remains unsaid.
More than simply telling a story, I approached I Will Come To You as a work of visual art. My intention was to create space for rumination—to resist over-explanation and allow meaning to emerge in the silence between images. Ultimately, I hope the film invites viewers into a process of self-examination, prompting them to consider their own moral compass in response to what they witness.
Tripwire and Cathedral Collective presents
“I Will Come To You”
Starring Dylan Douglas, Rebecka Johnston, Peter Facinelli co-starring Lynn Love, Rani Davidson
Produced by Jacob Arden, Tod Brilliant
Executive Produced by Dylan Douglas, Robert Mitas, Zach Mitchell, Scott Aharoni, Sara Hamilton
Co-Produced by Sydney Savion, Michele Thomas, Hilary Taubman-Die, John die
Line Producer Katrina Zanotto
hair and makeup by Ducky Rickman
Costume Design by Keian Satvat
Casting by Adam davenport
Armorer Andrew lewis
Camera Operator Gene Sung
Assistant Camera Patricia Bubis
2nd Assistant Camera Isaiah Miggins
Gaffer Allen Zhiying
Sound by Will Storkson
Score by James Wakefield
Assistant Director Harlow Brooks
Visual Effects by Tanem Davidson
Director of Photography Michael Edo Keane
Written and Directed by Jacob Arden
Film Type: Short
Runtime: 17 Minutes
Language: English
Country: United States