The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2025 - Issue 38

bitefilmreview GSW D rama suspense short film GSW (Gunshot Wound), written and direct- ed by Jonny Durgan, unfolds in the tense immediacy of an ambulance, where Beth, a seasoned paramedic, is fighting to save the life of a man with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. What begins as a harrowing but routine emergency spirals into a nightmare when a radio call reports an active school shooting nearby — the very school her son attends. As details emerge, the shoot- er is still at large, and the description matches the man lying on Beth’s stretcher. The film explores the collision of professional duty and personal terror, placing Beth at the heart of an impossible moral and emotional dilemma. It interrogates themes of motherhood, violence, and responsibility, asking how one reconciles the instinct to save a life with the fear that the same life may have destroyed oth- ers. With its claustrophobic setting and escalating tension, GSW becomes both a psychological thriller and a meditation on the fragility of control in moments of crisis. The cast features Genevieve O’Reilly as Beth, Kya Brame as Jo, Duncan Meadows as the victim, and Gemma Whelan as the dispatcher. H olly S horts L ondon 2025