“When a young woman desperate for connection in her relationship teaches her boyfriend the mechanics of a gun, their emotional dynamic becomes a live demonstration of Chekhov’s principle.”
MEET THE CAST
Maggie Thurmon
Maggie Thurmon was born on June 10, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is an actress, known for The Other Zoey (2023), Lostlings, and The Candy Shop (2010).
"Jane"MEET THE TEAM
Grace Zander
Preslea Elliott
Bennett Curran
Christian D’Angelo
Max Zimmer
Grace Zander
Writer + Director
Grace Zander is a writer, director, and producer whose work examines the emotional experience of being human through sub-textually precise and character-driven storytelling. Her films often unfold in enclosed worlds where identity and performance blur under pressure. An executive producer on the 2025 Tribeca-premiering feature OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR, Grace brings a background in both narrative filmmaking and brand strategy, blending aesthetic intention with real-world collaboration. She is currently shopping her debut feature script, CURRENT AFFAIRS, while continuing to develop projects that explore truth, connection, and the quiet poetry of ordinary life.
Preslea Elliott
Writer + Director
Preslea Elliott is a bicoastal actor, director, and singer-songwriter whose work is grounded in emotional honesty and lived experience. Her path into filmmaking began in the art department on Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese—an experience that led her to move to Los Angeles and pursue her childhood dream of acting. After training at Playhouse West, she began booking projects while independently producing and starring in a trilogy of short films with director Tony Tacheny, including the award-winning Nine. Preslea’s work is often shaped by grief as a through line, driving her commitment to authenticity and truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Bennett Curran
Producer
Bennett Curran is an actor, filmmaker, and producer originally from Phoenix, Arizona. His University of Arizona senior thesis documentary, 'California is Burning,' premiered at the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, won Best Student Film at Oceanside International Film Festival, and will screen at Palm Springs International ShortFest. The 23-year-old filmmaker is dedicated to preserving the tradition of analogue filmmaking with the voice of a new generation. He founded his production company, Flourishing, to exclusively connect artists and brands with the power of motion picture film. Select clients include Warner Records, Drumroll, and Hollister. Acting credits include Sony/Blumhouse's thriller 'Afraid' and the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series 'Criminal.’
DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT
People often say they “dodged a bullet” when it comes to failed relationships.
We didn’t.
We wrote versions of our relationships where the gun pointed at us didn’t matter, and we kept living inside those stories, even as the gun went off. After the bullet hit, we stayed. Bleeding. We called it faith, sacrifice, seeing the best in people. But when those relationships finally did come to a close, we were forced to confront not just the bullet wound, but also why we chose to stand in its path for so long.
Chekhov’s Gun is an attempt to make meaning from that awareness, and to recognise the universality of that experience. “We” extends beyond us as the filmmakers: it includes anyone who has sensed an inevitable outcome and chosen, consciously or not, to look away. The film asks: how and why can love keep us in harm’s way? It is not concerned with heroes or villains, right or wrong, but with complexity, complicity, and choice—the truths we deny, patterns we repeat.
The script emerged literally overnight, the first draft written just hours after we discussed its concept in the context of our own lives over London fog teas. In writing it, those truths and patterns came into sharper focus. We hope it creates a space for us, and for you, to look closely at the guns in our stories, and this time, to acknowledge them before they go off.
With love,
Grace & Preslea
