MovieMaker
In ‘Breakups Suck,’ a Human Can’t Leave His Vampire Girlfriend
“I never expected to stay in Albuquerque, New Mexico post high school,” says Ben Arndt, director of the funny and visually striking new short “Breakups Suck.” “However, to my suprise, the film industry slowly moved into my own backyard.”
Albuquerque and Santa Fe have been known in recent years for drawing big investments from heavy-hitters like Netflix and NBCUniversal. But Arndt represents a scrappy, inventive DIY scene — he made “Breakups Suck” as part of his graduate project from the University of New Mexico.
“Breakups Suck” played the Santa Fe International Film Festival Saturday and plays again Tuesday. It follows a young man named Luca (Jack McLaughlin) who wants to breakup with his girlfriend, Ruby (Willow Glenn.) The problem is, she’s a vampire, and tends to think in forever terms.
We talked with Arndt about the influences for his entertaining short, starting a film career in Albuquerque, and seeing every Godzilla movie.
Ben Arndt on Making ‘Breakups Suck’
MovieMaker: The look of this is so cool and unique — you nod to Nosferatu, but the low-fi black and white also reminds me of Clerks. The mix of scary and slacker is really disorienting and fun, because you never know where the movie will go. How did you land on the look of the film?
Ben Arndt: The aesthetic of the film came from a couple of different places, one of them being A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. The 2014 Iranian black-and-white vampire film was heavily influential on both the visuals of this film, and its approach to depicting vampires as mythological beings in urban and contemporary settings.
I also have a background in primarily black and white films — my previous work “The Box at the End of the World” was in black and white as well. It was shot by the same cinematographer as “Breakups Suck,” Chance Holmes-Snowden. Something about black and white has always stuck with me as a filmmaker, and I find the lack of color often forces me to be more mindful of my framing and blocking. It also helps that Chance is incredibly talented at utilizing minimalist lighting to get amazing contrasting shots.
MovieMaker: I’m a sucker, no pun intended, for a splash of color in the midst of black and white. You very effectively include a single blood red envelope. How did you achieve that effect in 2025? I’m guessing differently than Spielberg did in Schindler’s List?
Ben Arndt: The red coloring effect is thanks to my incredibly talented colleague Noah Tucker, who is a local colorist who specializes in post production. He used Davinci Resolve, which can actually track the motion of certain objects, and using a color wheel, can isolate certain shades. This process took a lot of trial and error, and often involved us framing out certain parts by hand. It was a labor of love for sure! I have a hunch it was likely a different process from Spielberg’s.
MovieMaker: How do you like the Albuquerque film scene, and living in ABQ in general? Did you grow up with Breaking Bad, and did it influence your desire to work in film?
Ben Arndt: I am a recent graduate from the University of New Mexico, and have been an ABQ local my whole life. While Albuquerque isn’t always pretty on the outside, there is something about its people and culture that truly makes it stand out. While there is a large studio industry presence in this city, I’d argue there is an even larger indie filmmaker scene here.
So many people have untapped creative potential and energy who have a burning desire to create and express themselves. It results in several pockets of filmmakers who come together and pool resources to create art that you wouldn’t find anywhere else.
MovieMaker: What are you general influences?
Ben Arndt: My biggest general influence is definitely the Godzilla franchise. Every week growing up, my dad and I would bike to the local Hastings and we’d rent one of the Godzilla films to watch together (there are 38 films in total, god bless his patience).
The original Godzilla, also known as Gojira, always stood out to me because of how it was able to take a larger than life mythological character and concept, and interweave it into a heartfelt and emotional core. Bringings this back to Breakups Suck, It was important to try and ground the mythological concept of vampires in something emotionally resonant, like a break-up. Some other directors that inspire me are Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Denis Villenueve.
MovieMaker: How did you assemble your cast and crew?
Ben Arndt: My cast and team is made up of classmates and friends I’ve made while pursuing filmmaking. I try not to pick crew or cast based on portfolios or clout, but rather based on who I feel I have the most chemistry with and who pushes me as an artist. I love developing organic relationships and friendships with the people I work with because not only does it help us work together more seamlessly, but it also tends to make my sets more comfortable as well.
A quote that my dad told me once that stuck with me was: “Leadership isn’t about always having the right ideas, but rather creating an environment in which the best ideas can be had.” As for my principal cast, Jack Mclaughlin is a UNM-based actor whose work had gotten my attention in the past, and Willow Glenn was someone I had a history of collaborating with, whose talent consistently blew me away.
Both of my leads are so incredibly talented and from the moment I watched them seamlessly improve 10 different versions of the breakup in rehearsals, I knew I had found my Luca and Ruby.
“Breakups Suck” screens in Albuquerque Sunday as part of the Santa Fe International Film Festival, one of our 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. You can read more of our festival coverage here.
By Tim Molloy