If you thought your high school gym teacher was tough, wait until you meet the coach in writer-director Ran Ran Wang’s thriller, I Think About Killing You.
Rideback Rise has officially unveiled the intense new trailer for the short film. It is set to have its world premiere at the Tribeca Festivalthis week, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. It will screen as part of the “Shorts: Competitive Edge” block.
Whiplash Meets American Psycho on the Water
The film follows Dani, the fiercely dedicated captain of a Division One collegiate rowing team. Dani has a lot on her mind. There’s academics, perfect form, keeping time, and—oh yeah—constant, invasive fantasies about murdering her deeply abusive coach.
When the coach pushes the team past the point of physical exhaustion. And straight into psychological torture. Dani is forced to make a choice. Pushed to the absolute brink of her sanity, she has to decide whether to keep rowing or to act on her darkest impulses. It’s a classic sports movie setup, if classic sports movies ended with a body count and a “kill or be killed” ultimatum.
Beyond the edge-of-your-seat thriller mechanics, the short is a look at the very real trauma women endure within institutional sports structures. It dives headfirst into the messy intersections of power, gender, and mental health. It begs the question: When does an intrusive thought become a moral obligation?
A Stacked Creative Team
Wang—whose feature screenplay If I Had Your Face landed a coveted spot on the 2023 Black List—loosely inspired the film by her own time as a competitive athlete.
“This film is for anyone who has ever been an athlete,” Wang shared. “Any woman who has ever had a complicated relationship with an older authority figure, and anyone who loves an anxiety-inducing thriller.”
The short boasts a stellar cast led by Tiana Le (Insecure) and genre-favorite Bridget Regan (John Wick, Agent Carter), alongside Charlie Morgan Patton (80 For Brady) and Miya Kodama (The Brothers Sun).
The project is backed by Dan Lin’s Rideback RISE, a nonprofit content accelerator dedicated to elevating mid-career POC filmmakers. It is produced by Annie Huang and executive produced by a powerhouse team including April S. Chang, Diana Mogollón, Rob Spera, Danielle Wright, Mitchka Saberi, and Zubin Anklesaria.
The Tribeca audience is about to get a serious workout. Check out the gripping trailer now before the short makes its big festival splash this Thursday.
