Chameleon (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

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Chameleon is a 34-minute Russian horror thriller centered on a father and son seeking a moment of family connection in the forest. Their quiet retreat takes an unsettling turn when they wake in an abandoned village that should not exist, confronting a mystery rooted in their unexpected surroundings.

Chameleon is a short Russian horror thriller about a father and son who leave the city for a chance to reconnect. What begins with a forest retreat, a bonfire and personal conversation soon shifts into something far more disturbing.

Directed by Arseniy Yuganov, the 2026 film has a runtime of 34 minutes. Its central mystery arrives the morning after the pair’s night outdoors, when they find themselves in an abandoned village that should not be there.

Chameleon movie details

Story without spoilers

The film follows a father and his son as they travel into the forest, hoping to remember what it means to be a family away from the pressures of city life. Their time together includes a bonfire and heart-to-heart talks, creating a brief space for reflection and connection.

By morning, that quiet escape has changed completely. They wake in an abandoned village whose presence appears impossible, placing the pair in an unfamiliar and unsettling situation. The supplied synopsis leaves the nature of the village unexplained, keeping the film’s main mystery at the center of its premise.

What to expect

Chameleon combines horror and thriller elements with a compact family-centered setup. Viewers can expect the story to focus on a father-son relationship, an isolated forest setting and the tension created by discovering a place that should not exist.

At 34 minutes, the film presents its premise in short form rather than as a feature-length production. Its tagline, “The most important thing is not to lose yourself,” adds a thematic note about identity without revealing how that idea connects to the events in the story.

Cast and creative team

Vilatiy Skorohodov plays Dad, while Zaicev Evgeniy plays Son. Arseniy Yuganov directs the film and also shares writing credit with Vilatiy Skorohodov and Zaicev Evgeniy.

• Vilatiy Skorohodov as Dad
• Zaicev Evgeniy as Son

Release and production context

Chameleon is listed as a 2026 release with a release date of September 1, 2026. It is marked as Released, runs for 34 minutes and is associated with Russia. The production company is YANES. The supplied details do not specify a spoken language.

Production companies: YANES

Reported production figures:
Budget $200 · Revenue $100,000

Chameleon official trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube

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With its brief runtime and focused premise, Chameleon places a family reunion inside an unexplained setting where the ordinary rules of the characters’ retreat no longer seem reliable. The father-son premise gives the horror story a personal starting point, while the abandoned village provides its central unanswered question.

Film data:
TMDB