Panic Fest 25' Cover Is a Quiet, Bleak Road Thriller About Trauma, Escape, and the Cost of Emotional Isolation - Review

Cameron Francis plays a haunted stamp collector on the run from secrets, strangers, and himself in the indie thriller Cover.

Every filmmaker has a first step, and Cover feels exactly like that—a first step into a world of brooding road-trip thrillers, slow-burn trauma, and loner anti-heroes trying to outrun the past. Written, directed by, and starring Cameron Francis, this indie drama-thriller leans into minimalism and emotional weight, using the open road as its backdrop and fractured people as its core.

Francis plays Trevor, a stamp dealer living on the fringes—emotionally checked out, barely tethered to anything stable, and possibly carrying some heavy scars beneath his blank stares. His path collides with Macy (Catherine Lozon), a young woman running from an abusive partner, and the two set off on an uneasy journey that begins as survival but slowly mutates into something more complex. Secrets are shared. Pasts are peeled back. And while the film plays coy with its tension, there’s always the looming feeling that something is about to snap.

Cover positions itself in the same shadowy corner of the genre as Blue Ruin or Cold in July, but it’s more interested in grief and retreat than vengeance and firepower. There’s potential in that restraint—but that restraint can also become a barrier. The film is emotionally closed off, occasionally too subtle for its own good, and often struggles to engage despite solid thematic groundwork. You feel like you’re chasing it down, waiting for something to punch through the atmosphere.

As a performer, Francis delivers a quietly convincing Trevor. His choices feel natural, even when the script asks for ambiguity over emotional clarity. Lozon’s Macy doesn’t land quite as strongly—less due to her performance and more due to the thinness of her character on the page. We’re told there’s pain, but rarely shown the interiority that makes that pain resonate.

Visually, the film leans into its indie sensibility—lots of hotel room stillness, night drives, and muted color palettes. But with a narrative this subdued, cinematography and score need to fill in the emotional blanks. Unfortunately, Cover doesn’t make the most of that opportunity. Aside from some choice tracks playing in the car, the film could’ve benefited from a more deliberate sound design or even just a little more musical storytelling. Tension and mood don’t always need volume, but they do need presence.

Still, there’s something in the DNA here worth watching. Francis clearly has a perspective—and a strange, compelling lead in the form of a stamp-collecting loner who doesn’t want to be found. That in itself is a choice. It speaks to a filmmaker who’s reaching for something off the beaten path, and that deserves some attention, even if the film doesn’t quite get there yet.

Cover is the start of something—not a polished statement, but a murky promise. There’s growth ahead for this filmmaker and this cast, and we hope to see it.

2 out of 5 stars

Director: Cameron Francis

Screenwriter:Cameron Francis

Cast: Cameron Francis, Katherine Lozon, Crhistopher Schmidt, Garin Jones