“Gumdrop,” a short noir horror from JZ Murdock, has won 16 international film festival awards, including Best Noir, Best Horror Thriller, and the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2020 Cult Critic Movie Awards. Among its honors is the prestigious TCCC Award (Transgressive Cinema and Culture), which recognizes films that challenge the norms of mainstream cinema through provocative, subversive, or experimental storytelling. Past works celebrated in this spirit include Eraserhead, Pink Flamingos, El Topo, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The film explores the dark and twisted mind of Sampson, a mysterious armorer supplying weapons to a criminal organization. Plagued by delusions and flashbacks of his traumatic past, Sampson’s sanity frays when he receives an unsanctioned order that forces him to confront his demons. Featuring a soundtrack by Andrea Fioravanti and songs by Alex Dewell, Gumdrop expands the shared psychological universe begun in JZ Murdock’s true-crime short story, Gumdrop City (2012).