Whos There? is Ryan Doris’s 10-minute horror short film about a father who hears his daughter’s voice at the door. Cast, plot, ending themes and where to watch.
Whos There? (2024): The Horror Short Film – Where the Voice at the Door Sounds Exactly Like Your Daughter
Every child learns not to open the door to strangers. Whos There? asks what you do when the voice outside sounds exactly like someone you love. Directed by Ryan Doris and written by Todd Spence and Zak White, it is a roughly 10-minute suburban horror short that drew attention from horror outlets and a place in a major festival’s lineup.
Not the film you meant? Several horror shorts share this title:
- Who’s There? (2018): Mike Pecci’s short about a family whose son goes missing, unleashing a demonic presence, which has an unusually high 8.7 IMDb score.
- Who’s There? (2023): Alex Magaña’s 4-minute short about someone creepy lurking in the shadows.
- Who’s There (2023): Desmond Levi Jackson’s 5-minute film about an exhausted sketch artist blocked by a supernatural force.
Whos There? (2024) Horror Short Film: This guide covers the Ryan Doris film, the most-reviewed recent version.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Title | Whos There? |
| Director / Editor | Ryan Doris |
| Writers | Todd Spence, Zak White |
| Producer | Alecia Orsini (also credited as Alecia Orsini Lebeda) |
| Cast | Garland Scott (Phil), Kallie Tabor (Brooke), Lizzy Kircher (Marissa) |
| Cinematography | Nick Kolinsky |
| Music | Matt Russell |
| Production company | Imitation Films Partnership |
| Genre | Horror short |
| Runtime | About 10–11 minutes |
| Country / Language | United States / English |
| Filming | Shot in New England |
| IMDb rating | 6.8/10 from 140 votes, with one win listed |
| Online premiere | Completed in 2024; online premiere on Alter in June 2025 |
Watch the Trailer
Whos There? (2024) Horror Short Film: I did not find a separate official trailer. Because the full film is short and free online, most promotion links straight to it. The film’s official site is whostherefilm.com, which is the best place to look for a trailer or press kit.
Watch the Shorts
The full film streamed on Alter’s YouTube channel, where it had its online premiere. Several reviewers point readers there, and one says you can watch the film on YouTube. Links can change, so confirm the upload is still live before embedding it.
Synopsis
Spoiler-free.
When a single father hears his daughter come home late, he begins to question whether the voice he’s hearing is really hers, or something else. The setup is domestic and cozy. A review notes that the film opens with the father making sandwiches in a quiet suburban home before his daughter heads out to a party. When she is due back, he is woken by her voice calling from outside, and he doesn’t see her, and soon realizes something insidious is at his doorstep. The rest is a tense game of whether to open the door.
Creative Team
- Ryan Doris (director, editor): A Massachusetts-based filmmaker who also cut the film.
- Todd Spence and Zak White (writers): Described by MovieMaker as “buzzed-about A24 screenwriters” after A24 bought their script Mice.
- Alecia Orsini Lebeda (producer): A key figure in New England film production.
- Garland Scott (Phil), Kallie Tabor (Brooke), Lizzy Kircher (Marissa): The on-screen cast. Listings also credit voice performers including Juan Pope, Debra Wilson and Kim Griffin.
- Nick Kolinsky (cinematography), Matt Russell (music), Miatta Shafore (production design), Rebecca Flinn-White (voice casting), Tim Maupin (VFX supervisor), Torb Zwirner (colorist).
Festival Journey & Recognition
- Seattle International Film Festival: The festival’s own archive lists the film in its 2024 programme as USA, 2024, 11 min.
- Premiere date: Letterboxd lists a March 22, 2024 premiere, but one critic’s page gives March 2025, so I couldn’t settle the exact premiere event from the sources I found.
- Online release: The film had its online premiere on ALTER in mid-2025.
- Awards: IMDb lists one win, but I could not verify which award, so don’t name one without checking.
- Distribution: A film database marks it as “In Distribution.”
The Origin Story
Doris came to the project from commercial work. He told MovieMaker he had been working on Spence and White’s script for more than two years and wanted to make a short of his own. He met the writers at Webster, where he was a production assistant on several of their shorts, and that relationship turned into a collaboration.
The film’s regional identity is part of its story. Doris is originally from St. Louis and moved to the Boston area when his wife began veterinary school, and the production blends that background with producer Orsini Lebeda’s Massachusetts roots. MovieMaker quotes him on returning to the form: “I forgot how much I love doing short film.”
Visual Style
The film makes a virtue of limited space. One review notes that action is mostly confined to the kitchen, the staircase area and the upstairs living room, with only a few exterior shots establishing one house in a suburb. Night photography stays legible, with the creature kept mostly in shadow. Another review says the simple setting lets the sound design and voice do the work, which makes sense for a film built around hearing. The same reviewer noted a few underwhelming special effects, so the strength is in suggestion and pacing, not spectacle.
Key Themes
- Trust and deception. The film’s pitch asks how well you know your friends and family.
- The “don’t open the door” trope, reworked. Familiar horror rules are given a twist by the mimicked voice.
- Parental anxiety. The father’s fear for a teenager out at night is the emotional engine, and critics found the father-daughter dynamic believable.
- Isolation at night. A single parent alone in a house, relying on hearing, makes the vulnerability immediate.
- Dark humor. Reviewers describe a tone that is unsettling, creepy and weirdly amusing at once.
Critical Reception
Reviews are positive and mostly from horror-short blogs. The Movie Buff called it simple and effective and praised the opening scene and the lead performance. Killer Shorts said the jump scares are earned and the voice actors in the second half raise the tension. A blogger on Little Green Footballs called it one of the best horror shorts of the year so far. Abstract AF was more measured: pacing and acting kept viewers hooked, though it might not give nightmares. An IMDb reviewer said it stands well above the average horror short. The IMDb score is 6.8/10.
Where to Watch
- YouTube (Alter channel): The main free viewing option, subject to availability.
- Official site: whostherefilm.com for news and credits.
- Databases: IMDb, Letterboxd and festival archives list it, though they may not stream it.
Director’s Journey
Ryan Doris is a Massachusetts-based filmmaker who grew up in the Midwest. He worked in commercial production while developing this short, and he also edited it. Beyond what is in the MovieMaker profile, I found little published detail about his earlier work, so I haven’t invented a filmography. The film’s reception and Spence and White’s A24 connection suggest it will be a useful calling card.
FAQ
- Who directed Whos There? (2024)? Ryan Doris.
- Who wrote it? Todd Spence and Zak White.
- How long is it? About 10–11 minutes.
- Where can I watch it? It premiered online on Alter’s YouTube channel.
- Is it based on a true story? No source I found says so.