Apologies to all those with emetophobia: indie streamer Nebula is debuting director Patrick Willems‘ short film “The Dinner Plan” next month, the story of a man (played by Griffin Newman) trying desperately to just not vomit at his boss’ dinner party.
Starring Newman, John Hodgman, Miriam Shor, Zach Cherry, Eudora Peterson, Geoffrey Cantor and Cindy Cheung, the 33-minute comedy-thriller movie will launch Nov. 26 on the streamer — just in time for Thanksgiving.
Per the description for the film, which is directed by Willems and written by Michael Curran and Jacob Torpey based on a story by Willems: “When he’s pressured into attending a dinner party hosted by his boss, a man who suffers from a rare food allergy must navigate the most stressful night of his life with one primary objective: just don’t throw up in front of everyone.”
In the first trailer for Nebula’s “The Dinner Plan,” which Variety can exclusively reveal via the video above, it’s made very clear this man should not, under any circumstances, be eating tomatoes — and yet that seems to be his hosts’ favorite ingredient throughout the night.
“The Dinner Plan” is produced by Nebula’s Dave Wiskus and Trenton Waterson. Zara Glaze is associate producer.
The film marks a milestone for indie streamer Nebula, a creator-owned subscription streaming platform that launched in 2019, which has slowly been ramping up to expand beyond its “edutainment” programming roots into scripted content.
YouTube and Nebula star Willems is a filmmaker and video essayist based in New York, best known for his YouTube channel on which he blends long-form film criticism and narrative storytelling. His debut feature film, “Night of the Coconut,” was released in 2022 on Nebula.