SXSW 2026 Interview: Kit Steinkellner Explores Love, Trauma, and Vampires in Are We Still Married?
- Travis Brown
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
SXSW 2026 Interview: Kit Steinkellner Breaks Down the Love, Trauma, and Humor Behind Are We Still Married?
There are certain shorts at SXSW that sneak up on you—quietly, cleverly, and with just enough originality to leave a lasting impression long after the credits roll. Are We Still Married? is one of those films.
We caught up with filmmaker Kit Steinkellner to talk about her breakout short, a sharp, emotionally grounded supernatural comedy that asks a deceptively simple question: what happens to a marriage when one partner turns into a vampire?
The answer, as it turns out, isn’t about fangs or fear—it’s about love, commitment, and the strange ways people process trauma together.
The origin of the story is as bizarre as it is personal. Steinkellner revealed that the idea traces back to a real-life moment when her husband was bitten by a bat. What could have been a passing anecdote turned into something more layered over time. Jokes about vampires evolved into deeper conversations, and eventually, a creative spark that sat dormant for nearly a decade before finding its way into a script.
What makes Are We Still Married? stand out is its refusal to lean into traditional vampire tropes. Instead of focusing on horror or spectacle, the film zeroes in on the emotional aftermath. The transformation has already happened. The chaos has already begun. What we’re left with is the relationship—two people trying to navigate something impossible while still holding onto something very real.
That decision was intentional. Rather than retreading familiar ground, Steinkellner wanted to explore what she hadn’t seen before: a grounded, adult relationship negotiating something supernatural without losing its emotional authenticity. The film plays less like a horror short and more like a late-night conversation between two people trying to figure out if love can survive something it was never designed to handle.
That authenticity extends into the performances. Though the film leans into humor, it never sacrifices sincerity. The chemistry between the leads feels lived-in, reflective of real relationships where humor and frustration often exist side by side. According to Steinkellner, that dynamic was rooted not just in the writing, but in the actors’ own lived experiences—bringing their understanding of long-term relationships into every exchange.
Even the use of vampire mythology is stripped down to its essentials. Instead of overloading the story with lore, the film focuses on the elements that heighten tension and emotional stakes. The rules that matter are the ones that force decisions—who gets let in, who gets left out, and how much time is left to decide.
It’s a disciplined approach that keeps the film tight, focused, and effective. At just around twelve minutes, every moment feels intentional, anchored in the immediacy of a single night where everything hangs in the balance.
And while the premise may sound absurd on paper, the film ultimately lands somewhere much more grounded. At its core, Are We Still Married? is about choice. About what it means to stay, to fight, and to commit—even when the circumstances make that decision feel irrational.
Steinkellner summed it up best through a philosophy she carried throughout the process: characters are most powerful when they’re fighting for love.
That idea drives the film from start to finish. Whether audiences agree with the choices made on screen is beside the point. What matters is the attempt—the willingness to hold onto something meaningful, even when it’s been fundamentally altered.
It’s that balance of humor, sincerity, and emotional weight that makes Are We Still Married? one of the more quietly impactful shorts at SXSW 2026. It’s a film that doesn’t need to scream to be heard. It just needs a moment—and once it has it, it sticks.
And if this is any indication of what’s next for Steinkellner, whether as a short or expanded into a larger format, there’s a lot more to explore in this world.
Because sometimes the scariest question isn’t what happens when someone becomes a monster.
It’s whether you still choose them after.
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