Turns out one of the strangest movies that played at Panic Fest 2026 was also one of the shortest! It’s called Assets & Liabilities, and it’s only an hour long. Written and directed by Zach Weintraub, who also stars in the lead role, Assets & Liabilities plays like an episode of Tales from the Crypt. Not just because it’s short and kooky, but because it deals with shitty people getting their comeuppance. And don’t you just love seeing things go horribly wrong for people that thought they were gonna get away with murder (figuratively speaking)
Our lead in this deranged waking nightmare is a character having a mid-life crisis in his mid 30s. He used to be a carefree skater punk, smoking dope, hanging out at the park all day. Now he’s got a wife, a kid, a corporate job, and he doesn’t recognize himself anymore. So, in a desperate attempt to hold onto a bit of his youth, he calls into work sick while his family is out of town and let’s loose.
“…hilariously deranged, and absurdly uncomfortable”
Of course, by “let’s loose,” I mean he immediately starts watching porn, doing drugs, and hanging out with the skater kids again. It’s really awkward at first, and this movie goes in such an insane direction that it would be kind of a spoiler to tell you much more. To be fair though, it is a very short movie. What I’ve told you is almost 40 minutes of the of the movie, but it takes a real tailspin in the third act and gets so f*cking weird.
What I loved most about Assets & Liabilities is that I really had no idea where it was going to go throughout the entire movie. It felt like, at any point, something could go wrong, or it could get crazy weird, and this dang movie goes to some places that I really didn’t expect. If you like a movie that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, or if you like really short, self-contained stories that you cannot predict but do get very weird, you have to check out Zach Weintraub’s hilariously deranged, and absurdly uncomfortable Assets & Liabilities.
(Also, bonus points for being a secret Halloween movie 🎃)
“takes a real tailspin in the third act and gets so f*cking weird.”
Assets & Liabilities was an official selection of Panic Fest 2026. Click HERE to follow our continued coverage of the festival and let us know how you plan on selfishly wasting an afternoon the next time your family is out of town, over in the Nightmare on Film Street Fiend Club.
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