The trailer has officially dropped for Spilled Milk, a chilling new horror short from writer-director Jared Leaf, as the film gears up for its festival run at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival.
Spilled Milk has been selected for the 34th annual PAFF, an Oscar-qualifying festival that celebrates global Black stories in film and art. The festival takes place in Los Angeles from February 7–22, 2026.
Produced under Monkeypaw Productions and Toronto International Film Festival’s No Drama Initiative, Spilled Milk is one of five projects developed through the program’s inaugural class. The year-long initiative—supported by Monkeypaw, TIFF, and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group—provided each selected filmmaker with $50,000 to create horror stories that confront culture, society, and deeply rooted fears.
The short stars J. Alphonse Nicholson and Scott Mescudi, alongside Jerry O’Connell, Brandon Perea, Rodney Van Johnson, with Nafeesha Nicholson lending her voice to the film. Mescudi also composed the film’s score, adding another layer to the project’s unsettling tone.
Spilled Milk flips a familiar phrase into a disturbing premise, asking a haunting question: What really happened to all those fathers who left to get milk and never came back? The story follows a father whose seemingly innocent errand leads to a terrifying encounter with a mysterious figure known only as “The Milk Man.”
All five No Drama Initiative shorts premiered out of competition at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025. Executive producers on the slate include Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Keisha Senter, Dana Gills, and Kesila Childers, with casting led by Kharmel Cochrane.
The 34th Pan African Film & Arts Festival will take place across multiple Los Angeles venues, including The Culver Theater and Cinemark Baldwin Hills Crenshaw. In addition to film screenings, PAFF 2026 will feature ArtFest with more than 100 visual artists, spoken word events, comedy showcases, and industry gatherings. For more information on PAFF 2026, click here.
Screening dates for Spilled Milk are expected to be announced soon. For now, the newly released trailer offers a first look at what promises to be one of the festival’s most unsettling and conversation-starting short films.