Dave Freeman (Jesse Einstein) sets off to scatter his Dad’s ashes in this 23 minute short.
HollyShorts 2025 has, once again, gathered hundreds of shorts from promising filmmakers. Last year, there were 427. “On the Internet Nobody Knows Who You Are,” a 23.26 minute short starring Jesse Einstein and directed by J.M. Logan, is one of the 2025 submissions.
The premise is that David Freeman, whose father died 3 years previously, is heading off to climb to the top of Magic Mountain to scatter his father’s ashes. Dave is the originator of a series of self-filmed videos known as Dave Nation, and, at the outset, we learn that this is Episode 894.
Dave tells us that his dead father used to take him camping in the woods. He shares, “I was 12 years old. The last thing I wanted to do was to be alone with my dad in the woods.”
But, to honor his father and scatter his ashes, Dave sets off on the adventure of climbing to the top of the peak his dad referred to as Magic Mountain. (At the credits, we learn that the lovely forest and mountains are courtesy of Uncle Mark’s cabin.)
Dave Freeman (Jesse Einstein) in “On the Internet Nobody Knows Who You Are.”
Things do not go as planned. Among other mishaps, including a fall down a cliff, in the night there is a bear attack. Dave wakes up to say, “I have no gear, no tent, no food, no socks, and I don’t really remember how to use a compass.”
“Who knew that bears would eat socks?” asks Dave.
There is ultimately a triumphant clambering to the top of Magic Mountain, but not before Dave has also plummeted to the bottom of the cliff, fallen into a creek, and become hopelessly lost. Even when he manages to ascend to the top of Magic Mountain, his father’s ashes don’t quite get the send-off he had planned, a la “The Big Lebowski.”
Magic Mountain in “On the Internet Nobody Knows Who You Are.”
There is a lovely original score by Antoni M. March as Dave finally finishes the task. He answers his mother’s telephoned question about how it all went with the one word, “Good.”
The photography of a truly beautiful vista was exquisite. The general tone of the piece, reminded me of my (so far) All Time Favorite Short, “Retirement Plan” by Irish director John Kelly, which just launched on YouTube. That 7-minute short was hilarious and even earned an introduction by David Sedaris in “The Atlantic.”
The cinematography, acting, music and premise are all good, although it is 3 times longer than “Retirement Plan,” which is animated.
Is “On the Internet Nobody Knows Who You Are” any good?
Does a bear in the woods eat socks?
