[Pictured: Video still from FUTURE TRAP / BREAK THE CYCLE]
Photo Credit: Sam Casey
For Immediate Release
JANN KLOSE RELEASES CINEMATIC SHORT FILM FOR “FUTURE TRAP / BREAK THE CYCLE”
A surreal five-minute journey through heartbreak, emotional healing, and the courage to open oneself to love again, set against the streets of New York City.
Watch the “FUTURE TRAP / BREAK THE CYCLE” short film: https://youtu.be/0Vun5mdalNo
What happens when the fear of getting hurt becomes the very thing keeping you from finding love? That question lies at the heart of Jann Klose’s newly released short film for “FUTURE TRAP / BREAK THE CYCLE,” a five-minute cinematic journey that transforms two consecutive tracks from his album The Future Trap into a compelling visual story about heartbreak, self-discovery, and breaking the patterns that hold us back.
Written, produced, directed, and shot by filmmaker Sam Casey of Carpe Noctem Films, the film follows a young man (played by Casey as a younger version of Jann) who finds himself literally tied to a red rope, dragged through New York City by a love he cannot control. What unfolds is a surreal tale of attachment, emotional wounds, and the difficult journey toward learning to love again.
The story begins with the track “Future Trap,” as a seemingly spontaneous romance takes the protagonist from Brooklyn Bridge Park across the Brooklyn Bridge and through Central Park. But when the relationship falls apart, he is left confronting his own emotional baggage. Through a series of striking visual metaphors, including handmade yarn-and-felt hearts and the recurring red rope, the film explores the destructive cycle of giving oneself away while neglecting one’s own healing.
The narrative then shifts into “Break the Cycle,” where a chance encounter on a subway train offers the possibility of something different. This time, the protagonist meets someone carrying wounds of her own. Rather than being dragged into another relationship, they approach one another with greater care and vulnerability.
For Casey, the decision to carry the story beyond the heartbreak of “Future Trap” was central to the film’s message. As he explains, “Ending on Future Trap would have meant nothing changes. The man chooses himself and rides off into the sunset. That felt too bleak, almost antinatalist. Hollywood tells that story often. As a staunch pronatalist, I couldn’t end it there. Thus, the film continues into the next song in the album, Break the Cycle, which is sonically treated like an epilogue to Future Trap. The man puts himself out there again, leading himself away from regret or resentment.”
The project also took on an unexpectedly personal dimension during production. Casey experienced a separation during pre-production, bringing the album’s themes into his own life. “In making this video, I predicted my own spiral before it began. I went through a separation during pre-production. I loved fast, generously, and naively, and the album’s themes played out in my own life. Playing a younger Jann, I had to break the same patterns the record is about, the ones I kept repeating in my work and love life.”
Klose, meanwhile, was happy to give Casey the creative freedom to interpret the music in his own way. Having previously collaborated on Klose’s stop-motion video for “WHEN I’M WITH YOU,” shot over six hours while walking down Broadway in New York City, the two reunited for a more ambitious cinematic project. “It was great to just step back and let someone else come up with an original interpretation of the songs rather than direct,” says Klose. “I loved the end result and the message that speaks to what I think is a fear of intimacy in the current world of apps and social media.”
He was particularly drawn to the film’s visual storytelling and its exploration of vulnerability. “I really enjoyed seeing how the lovers meet by ‘accident’ and overcome their apprehensions to give way to letting themselves be vulnerable. The special effects and metaphoric use of the heart and the rope got me right away and I was excited by the fact that Sam was able to put a complex storyline in a 5 minute film/music video!”
Shot guerrilla-style across New York City with a small crew that doubled as the cast, the film features locations including Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, city street corners, subway stations, trains, and a Brooklyn apartment. Casey also took on cinematography duties and played the lead role, often setting up shots before stepping in front of the camera. Shot on the Sony FX3 and Sony A7S III, the production combines practical effects, handmade props, and inventive visual techniques, including thousands of hand-drawn digital strokes used to make backgrounds disappear without a green screen.
Ultimately, “FUTURE TRAP / BREAK THE CYCLE” is about recognizing that protecting yourself from heartbreak can sometimes mean shutting yourself off from the very connections you need. Its closing message is one of hope: healing is an ongoing process, but love doesn’t have to be a battle. Sometimes, breaking the cycle means allowing someone else to help you put the pieces back together.
Watch the “FUTURE TRAP / BREAK THE CYCLE” short film: https://youtu.be/0Vun5mdalNo
[Pictured: Video still from FUTURE TRAP / BREAK THE CYCLE]
Photo Credit: Sam Casey
Film Credits
● Written, produced, directed, and shot by: Sam Casey (Carpe Noctem Films)
● The Bard: Jann Klose
● The Guy: Sam Casey
● 1st Love: Julia Sjakovs
● 2nd Love: Annalisa Noel
● The Ex: Diego Torrado
● Camera Operators: Diego Torrado, Annalisa Noel, Nihal Singh
● Music: “Future Trap” and “Break the Cycle,” written, performed, and produced by Jann Klose and Marcus Dembinski
● Mixed by: Marcus Dembinski
● Mastered by: Ben Kesler
Distributed by: KMG Distribution
Stream “The Future Trap” album here: https://found.ee/tfp
Follow Jann’s socials for all the latest news:
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Press inquiries: Keith James, Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com
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