By: Victoria Stevens
New York, NY (The Hollywood Times) 02/16/26 – One of the more assured psychological shorts to debut at Sundance, The Oracle is written and directed by JJ Adler and stars Kurt Fuller, Brandon Scott Jones, Susan Berger, and Luka Jones. The film, which leans into Adler’s sharp, character-driven storytelling, features Fuller in a standout turn that anchors the short’s exploration of fate, consequence, and uncomfortable truths, drawing early attention from festivalgoers and buyers alike.
“The film is about what would it take to move someone off certainty. We are all confident in our viewpoints of the world, and sometimes something will happen to you that will make you question all the things you were pretty sure about. This film is based on an experience like that where the ground sort of shifts underneath the psychiatrist. I had a series of conversations with people in a short amount of time where they shared their spiritual awaking and clearly their stories moved them and changed their whole perspective on reality, but being on the other side listening to the story it sounded nuts and farfetched. I thought it would be fun to tell a story about where you are inside and outside that experience at the same time. You’re with this character who thinks their neighbors are crazy, then he has this experience, and then he is not sure anymore on the reality on other perspective. I think that is what these experiences are often like for people and I think that is where this story comes from,” explained director JJ Adler.
Breathing life into this type of psychological character can be challenging for many actors, however Kurt Fuller dives deep into the unknown and puts the audience in a state of uncertainty themselves on who to believe and what was the truth in this story.
“I took this part because the script was extremely well written and it took me out of my wheelhouse, my comfort zone. I had no idea how this was going to turn out, and I wasn’t sure how deep I could go to make this character believable. I always walk in pretending I’m confident, but I am rarely confident. It was a real effort for me in some parts, and there are some moments I did not quite get. The final moment where I am in the special effect looking at my brother, I wasn’t sure if I nailed that moment. One thing I like about JJ is she does not move on until she gets what she wants. When you look at the film, every take that JJ picked was the best and she just did a tremendous job putting the whole thing together,” expressed Fuller.
As the commercial director, JJ noted the considerable challenges involved in guiding the actors while on set.
“What is interesting is that I hadn’t made anything outside of commercials for so many years, so I really forgot all my directing the actor training I had learned in film school. Only after I wrapped it did I realize that I forgot to implement any of the tools. In commercial directing it’s so fast and it’s so specific so I felt that I might have annoyed the actors just a bit in my directing style, however what was great is I had a lot of friends come out to play the characters in the backyard. Then I had Kurt and Brandon Scott Jones, who is a terrific and very talented comedic actor, take his character who was written in a vague way and made incredible smart choices with him. He really elevated the humor and the tone of his character which was brilliant. When it comes to shorts, they are over quickly, and you don’t get a chance to sync into the tone of what we are doing here, so it was hard for all of us to get onto the same page,” said Adler.
Adler filmed the project in five days with a trusted team, efficiently keeping the shoot on schedule as a decisive director. When asked about the theme of the short, Adler had an interesting response to what the audience could take away from it.
“Hopefully the audience can see that the short is entertaining and fun. I believe a lot of audience members had walked away saying that the theme was about grief, but I think the main purpose of the film for me was to have people open up their viewpoints to seeing the world differently, and realize that there is always something to learn from people you might look down on,” explained Adler.
“To piggyback on what JJ said, I like that this film doesn’t have the network television ending explaining what the theme was. I think, especially today in this atmosphere we live in, so many people are certain of metrically opposed. However, what I keep expressing to my adult kids is to live in the grey, and just the fact that my character moved from living in the white or black into the grey area is a huge movement. In the 20 minutes of the film, it was justified, substantiated and supported by the film, and that is what I believe is the most important thing about it personally,” added Fuller.
Adler already has a feature film and another short film she is gearing up to make. She wants to stay in this type of tone that the Oracle was created in. The situations were funny and darkly comedic. She hopes this short will be a good sales tool for her next films. Also, Adler has her own commercial production company, so she will keep creating commercials as well.
For more information, please follow JJ Adler at https://www.jjadler.com and Ruckus Films | Directors Jj Adler
