A Red Button: Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

A Red Button follows Garry, a worker assigned to press a button whenever a red light flashes. As questions about the organisation grow, the brief task becomes tied to his troubled past and pushes him toward a breaking point.

A Red Button is a 20-minute mystery thriller directed and written by Ryan Bereznicki. The film centers on Garry, an employee whose seemingly simple assignment is complicated by the organisation surrounding it and the questions he cannot answer.

Starring Joshua Rutledge as Garry Smith, the short film uses an unexplained workplace routine as the starting point for a darker mystery. As Garry searches for clarity, the boundaries between his new job and his past become increasingly difficult to separate.

A Red Button movie details

Story without spoilers

Garry works for an organisation he knows very little about, carrying out one specific instruction: press a button whenever a light in front of him turns red. The task appears straightforward, but the lack of information surrounding his workplace begins to trouble him.

His search for answers leads him into a mystery that reaches beyond the job itself. At the same time, Garry must contend with ghosts from his past, creating pressure that gradually takes him toward his emotional limit.

What to expect

As a mystery thriller, A Red Button is built around an unusual workplace premise, an unexplained routine and a protagonist seeking information about the system he serves. Its 20-minute runtime suggests a compact story focused on Garry’s growing unease rather than an expansive world or lengthy subplots.

The synopsis also points to psychological tension, with the central mystery connected to Garry’s personal history. The film’s premise raises questions about the organisation, the meaning of the red light and why the assignment affects him so deeply, without revealing how those questions are resolved.

Cast and creative team

Joshua Rutledge plays Garry Smith, the employee at the center of the story. Jack Crump appears as the Assistant, Elijah Abbott plays Flynn, Lincoln Kelly portrays Mr. Grayson, and Ryan Bereznicki appears as a News Reporter.

Ryan Bereznicki wrote and directed A Red Button, in addition to playing the News Reporter.

• Joshua Rutledge as Garry Smith
• Jack Crump as Assistant
• Elijah Abbott as Flynn
• Lincoln Kelly as Mr. Grayson
• Ryan Bereznicki as News Reporter

Release and production context

A Red Button is listed as released and has a runtime of 20 minutes. It is classified as a mystery and thriller. The supplied information does not include a release date, country, spoken language or production company.

Movies Dock view

A Red Button presents a contained mystery through a simple but unsettling workplace instruction. With Garry’s search for answers linked to unresolved elements of his past, the short film’s premise combines procedural repetition with personal psychological pressure.

Film data:
TMDB