VAN LIFE Is What Happens When Every Choice Makes Things Worse
- R.A.G.
- Feb 3
- 2 min read
At its core, VAN LIFE, directed by Thor Moreno, is a film about decision-making under pressure. The smaller, uglier moments where every option carries a cost. The story doesn’t revolve around a single defining choice.
Instead, it traces how a series of seemingly minor decisions slowly closes off escape.
The character at the center of the film isn’t faced with clear right and wrong answers. Most of the time, the choices are between bad and worse. Stay put or move on. Trust instinct or second-guess it. Push forward or wait it out. VAN LIFE refuses to frame these moments as turning points. They’re treated as inevitabilities, responses shaped by exhaustion, fear, and limited information.
What makes this approach effective is its lack of sentimentality. Consequences arrive unevenly, sometimes long after a decision is made. As one line in the film suggests in spirit, “The problem isn’t choosing wrong — it’s realizing too late that there was never a safe option.”
This moral ambiguity keeps the film grounded. There’s no sense that the character is being tested for virtue or cleverness. Instead, the film observes how pressure distorts judgment. Even logical decisions can feel reckless when resources dwindle, and confidence erodes. By focusing on consequence rather than intent, VAN LIFE avoids turning its story into a lesson. It doesn’t argue that different choices would have led to a better outcome. It simply shows how quickly circumstances narrow, and how responsibility becomes harder to locate once control slips away.
That perspective adds weight to the film. The tension doesn’t come from wondering what the character should do, but from recognizing how easily any of us could make the same decisions under similar conditions. This film is on our radar for the right reasons. Van Life is currently making its festival run, with an official release date to be announced soon.
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