"No good story starts with everything going right." - Michael Cusumano
My parents remember staying up till 2 a.m. one night collecting trash and containers from the pantry they had decided we could do without. All for the sake of crafting an A+-worthy balloon car for my eighth grade science class—and ultimately saving my ass. By 'parents', I exclusively mean my dad—my type A mom would've done more harm than good.
After a few hours of brawling with chopsticks, rubber bands, and hot glue, I had something that was worthy of, by my teacher's standards, a 70%. Would I have gotten an A if I had started the project a bit earlier (a week, a day, a few hours even)? Who's to say. My story is so relatable it borders on cliché—when I tell it. Director and writer Michael Cusumano and Charity Schubert, however, do a fabulous job painting this picture for us in their latest short film titled Last Minute.
Whether you're a parent to a current student or an empty-nester, you need to see this short I'm about to share.
Last Minute is a brand-new hit short about a single mom whose evening spirals into chaos when her 12-year-old son leaves a major school assignment until the very last night. It's the perfect dose of comedy with a hint of charming nostalgia.
Check it out the trailer HERE!
It received Grand Prize recognition at the 2025 Louisiana Film Prize, and it has now been selected for the Tribeca Festival along with qualifying for the 99th Academy Awards.
The film's star, Charity Schubert, shared
"We've had really nice success on the film festival circuit—I think we're up to 15 festivals right now! We were thrilled to get into Cleveland internationals 50th festival this year and had a wonderful time. And then we were overjoyed to get into Tribeca—it's particularly special because we both live in New York City. Nice to play the hometown you know?"
The three of us spent a lot of time discussing this film's relatability. It's the first time in a while I've seen a film draw such empathy from audience members; so much so that they would come up to share their old childhood stories with Schubert and Cusumano.
"Actually, when I first had the idea, I went through a several month—I wouldn't say panic, but— real concern that someone must have gotten to this idea first! So I just went through all of IMDb and all of Letterboxd and searched this plot. I really can't believe I'm the first person to want to get to this because I knew if I could pull it off it would be really special." - Director Michael Cusumano
I was curious to know if the film's concept came from a specific traumatic childhood memory of their own. We discussed the fact that every kid has felt the high-stakes, walk-of-shame moment of confessing their procrastination to their folks. Cusumano shared that his true story was almost too cinematic to include:
"I mean I couldn't even put this in the film because it would seem so fake. I was bailed out by a snow day. I had an extra two hours before school started to get this thing done—just scribbling out of an encyclopedia."
You've already heard about my balloon car, but trust, there were countless solar systems, robots, and baked goods that my parents put in some unpaid night shifts for.
The film begins with this text:
"THE YEAR IS 1989. THE INTERNET IS NOT YET IN HOMES. CHATGPT IS DECADES AWAY..."
To me, the thing that makes this film the most charming (and allows for its plot) is that it takes place in the '80s. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt that there would be an Oscar-qualifying film in which a child from 2026 waited until the last minute to do their project, leading them to leisurely have AI do it in 45 seconds. In Last Minute the mother, Jackie, has to speed to the library to pick up an encyclopedia on time, watch Jeopardy! while praying for a science question, and call all her neighborhood friends to see if perhaps they're up to date on their plutonium facts. While I'm sure Jackie would've killed for the internet back then, her memories of humorous chaos would be missed today.
"It's only when we look back on that time that we say, 'Oh now I have all these conveniences but did I mean to give up all that I did along the way?' Like for example, I have all these wonderful streaming services. It would've blown my mind as a thirteen-year-old film nerd to be like 'Wanna watch every film Chaplin ever made? Just take a weekend it's all right there!' But at the same time you turn around and go, oh I haven't gone to the movies with my friends in a year. Did I mean for that to happen?"
As someone who wasn't alive in 1989 or the 18 years that followed, I was so enthralled by the world of this film. I think a lot of people my age are seeking that nostalgia for a time that they never experienced. To put it more eloquently, Schubert said,
"I think of all the things that we've lost over the years, the costliest is that connection to community. I love seeing younger people really resonate with this film because I think the older generations who watch this film will yearn for something that we lost whereas younger generations are yearning for something they didn't get to have—I think that really strikes a chord with people."
We're seeing this all the time with shows popular among Gen Z: Young Sheldon, Derry Girls, and the big bad Stranger Things. Last Minute is such a great time capsule that isn't too in your face 'look at the '80s', but instead drops you into a typical night in any American house in 1989.
The beauty of this film lies in Jackie's desperate outreach to her community in order to get this project done. Cusumano said,
"The adults in the film would never call each other up and say, 'you know what would be fun let's bat around the Periodic table of elements for a while! Might be a good time!' But that's what ends up happening. These things that are inconveniences turn into great memories; the way I like to look at it is, no good story ever started with everything going right."
To me, that is the real theme of the film. Though it takes place in a different era and its specific events might not be replicated today, we all have challenges. Last Minute holds up a mirror, reminding us to take those inconvenient moments in stride, because more often than not, they're the ones that make the best stories. I certainly don't remember much from my eighth grade science class, but I remember my dad and I laughing over a balloon car that didn't work, the kitchen table covered in hot glue, and the moment we finally decided it would be good enough! And while my teacher may have only thought it was worth a 70, I'd say the story has aged into a solid A.
Go follow Last Minute on Instagram HERE and check out their website for more from this team!
