The short stick is a 2022 Bulgarian drama film directed by Dimitar Petkov from a screenplay by Dimitar Zlatinov. The film premieres in Bulgaria on March 11, 2022.
The film takes place on a fateful night in 1979 — in a provincial town where socialism is still pervasive and people live under the weight of fear, addictions, and secrets.
Four militiamen (uniformed guardians of order) find themselves embroiled in a scandal: the chief manipulates them to cover up his own infidelity with conspiracies and lies.
They begin with an "innocent" ruse - covering up a betrayal - but the spiral of lies tightens its grip. Moral dilemmas, fear of power, betrayals - all intertwine as a young sergeant is forced to commit murder to protect the group, and gradually realizes that revenge and survival come at a high price.
The style is dark, atmospheric — the sets, the night scenes, the tension between light and dark create a sense of claustrophobia and inevitability. The cinematography by Ivan Tonev emphasizes the shadows and the psychological weight.
The audience perceives the film as serious and provocative — against the backdrop of lighter comedies or genre films, The Short Stick stands out as a drama that is not afraid to show the ugly side of human choices.
The actors, especially Ruslan Maynov and Kitodar Todorov, have been praised for managing to convey the complexity of the characters — not simply good or bad, but intertwined with guilt, fear, and self-defense.
Critics have praised Dimitar Zlatinov's script as a sharp social mirror — a film that looks not only back to the past, but also to those aspects of the present that do not change: power, lies, fear.
The short stick is a Bulgarian drama that is not afraid to enter the darkness of human weakness — power, betrayal, fear. This is a film that examines human motives with candor and will not leave the viewer without reflection. If you are looking for a movie that makes you think — about choices, about guilt, about the border between what we are and what we fear to become — The short stick is a title that is definitely worth watching.
