Rusty Horse (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Rusty Horse is a seven-minute Australian drama-romance short about a grieving young man trying to understand his Vietnamese girlfriend’s final words. With help from a therapist who speaks her language, his search becomes an unsettling encounter with grief, translation and the limits of meaning.

Rusty Horse is a 2026 Australian short film written and directed by Lâm Gia Lạc. The seven-minute drama-romance centers on Mark, a grieving young man haunted by the final words of his Vietnamese girlfriend, Mai.

Seeking clarity, Mark turns to a therapist who speaks Vietnamese. The film’s premise places language at the center of a story about love, suicide, and the difficulty of making sense of devastating loss.

Rusty Horse movie details

Story without spoilers

After Mai’s suicide, Mark becomes obsessed with understanding what she said before her death. He seeks help from a therapist who can speak her language, hoping that translation might provide the explanation he needs.

Instead, his attempt to recover meaning through language leads to an emotional breakdown. Rusty Horse frames grief as both deeply personal and difficult to interpret, with its short runtime focused on Mark’s psychological struggle rather than a broad plot.

What to expect

Rusty Horse is identified as a drama and romance, with additional metadata describing it as surreal, psychological, experimental and tragic. Viewers can expect a compact, emotionally intense premise built around grief, cross-cultural communication and the search for meaning after a death.

At seven minutes, the film is structured as a brief short-form experience rather than an expansive character study. Its use of English and Vietnamese supports the central tension between language and understanding, while the premise suggests an unconventional approach to narrative and emotional expression.

Cast and creative team

Liam Hutchinson plays Mark, the grieving young man at the center of the story, while Joey Ho portrays Mai. Ferdinand Hoang appears as The Therapist, who becomes involved in Mark’s search for understanding. The supporting cast includes Claire Delfin as Mum, Bob Tan as Dad, Kate Ton as Cousin 1, and Jenell Wong as Cousin 2.

Lâm Gia Lạc serves as both director and writer, shaping the film’s short, psychologically focused narrative.

• Ferdinand Hoang as The Therapist
• Liam Hutchinson as Mark
• Joey Ho as Mai
• Claire Delfin as Mum
• Bob Tan as Dad
• Kate Ton as Cousin 1
• Jenell Wong as Cousin 2

Release and production context

Rusty Horse is a 2026 production from Australia, made by Deakin University. It has a runtime of seven minutes and uses both English and Vietnamese. The supplied release date is November 8, 2026, and the film is listed as Released.

Production companies: Deakin University

Reported production figures:
Budget $2,350

Movies Dock view

With its brief runtime and concentrated premise, Rusty Horse presents grief through the specific problem of trying to understand someone across language and cultural experience. Its drama-romance framework is paired with surreal and experimental elements, making it a compact film about love, loss, and the uncertainty that follows tragedy.

Film data:
TMDB · IMDb