Running a gallery might seem peaceful, but this dark comedy directed by Katherine Bernard imagines drama and intrigue within a world of white walls.

Starring the winner of last year’s Dazed 100 Hari Nef, Cecilia Corrigan, Alex Karpovsky (Girls) and Wayne Koestenbaum, Crush is a short film about gallery assistant Cale’s (played by Corrigan) overnight transformation from the seemingly naive gallery girl to the social maestro with the most power in the (very surreal) room. 

From the unimaginable risk of wrongly installing a large minimalist artwork, to the narcissism of the gallery owner and vernissage guests using the reflective surface of a sign to check themselves out, Crush riffs on stereotypes within the art world. Set in lower Manhattan, the film is stylistically beautiful, shot by cinematographer Carrie Cheek. The short's costuming work features pieces by Dazed 100 star Eckhaus Latta and the film's soundtrack comes from The Range's new album, Potential.

Co-written by Bernard and Corrigan, Crush's gallery goer extras are Dazed natives like Jenny Zhang, Amy Rose Spiegel and Sarah Nicole Prickett. Bernard describes the almost all-female crew (everything from the DP to the colour corrector) as an “overwhelming source of pride” as together they present a fresh take on dynamics often based in pretense.