Carl Erik Rinsch has only really directed commercials so far, but his name became known when it was announced that the Ridley Scott understudy would be directing the prequel of the 1979 horror classic, Alien.

Eventually we found out that Scott himself would instead be taking over the Alien project for Fox, which was great news for fans of the original but not so good news for Rinsch. So what has the rising director gone on to do since then? Well, a little short film called The Gift (no, Keanu Reeves in not in it), and it just so happens to have studios in a bidding war to acquire the rights to develop a feature film based on it.

Be sure to continue on over to the other side to watch the short film. It’s very much worth the five minutes of your time.

The Gift tells the story of a gift being delivered in a strange alternate reality Russia. The gift is delivered with no complications, but after it is opened, chaos ensues. The short film is a kind of strange combination of I, Robot, The Box, The Bourne Identity, and any movie that includes a curious with mysterious glowing contents.

Because of the studio battle for the rights to The Gift, it’s being compared to Neil Blomkamp’s District 9. That was also based on a short film and it went on to become a best picture nominee.

Short Film

[Source: /Film, Heat Vision]