
SHELLSHOCK
10/30/2025 | 30m 39sVideo has Closed Captions
A decorated combat veteran returns home only to find himself locked in a new kind of warfare.
This short film plunges audiences into the fractured mind of a warrior trapped between two worlds: the battlefield and the home front. A decorated combat veteran and Navy Seal returns home only to find himself locked in a new kind of warfare—one fought in the shadows of his own mind. Reality twists as past and present collide, forcing him into a high-stakes battle for survival.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
GI Film Festival San Diego is a local public television program presented by KPBS

SHELLSHOCK
10/30/2025 | 30m 39sVideo has Closed Captions
This short film plunges audiences into the fractured mind of a warrior trapped between two worlds: the battlefield and the home front. A decorated combat veteran and Navy Seal returns home only to find himself locked in a new kind of warfare—one fought in the shadows of his own mind. Reality twists as past and present collide, forcing him into a high-stakes battle for survival.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(wind softly blowing) (soft ambient tone) (ominous post-rock music) - [Peachy] You ever thought about climbing Mount Everest?
- (chuckles) No, bro.
Shit's crazy.
It doesn't prove anything.
Train for years and you can still die.
It's stupid.
- That's the point.
No matter how hard you work, the mountain, it chooses you.
You live or you die.
- Why'd you get out, Peach?
Team guys make excuses on why they get out.
Think they're gonna look like a pussy or a quitter, but why?
Why'd you really get out?
- It's not complicated.
I spent my childhood letting my dad beat my ass so he wouldn't touch my mom.
After she died, I broke his face with a tire iron.
Judge said jail or military, so I went in at 17, and the teams became my family.
I was raised by savages and killers my whole life.
So I just thought I'd check out normal for once, see what that was like.
- But why didn't you tell me?
- Didn't wanna look like a quitter.
- I was a Seal for 15 years.
Said just needed a challenge.
- You know, I was gonna be a Seal, but my dad, he made me do the MBA thing.
So why'd you get into tech?
- I have extensive experience in cyber surveillance.
Tech seemed like a good fit.
- Shit.
Your resume can take over a small country.
Hey, we love veterans here.
A leadership background like yours, I'd be a dumbass not to hire you.
(soft upbeat country music) ♪ I heard you tell your story ♪ ♪ Your suffering and pain ♪ ♪ I wish that I could shield you ♪ ♪ Bring you in out of the rain ♪ ♪ Who built this stony path ♪ ♪ That you and I must tread ♪ ♪ There's people all around us ♪ ♪ Some alive and some are dead ♪ ♪ Don't you forget it when you're out there on your own ♪ ♪ Some things are hard to bear, but you gotta carry on ♪ - New guy work, you earned it.
Greg.
- Peachy.
You a Marine?
- O311.
You?
- Navy.
- Navy?
Were you in the teams?
Yeah.
You look like a team guy.
- (chuckles) You do any combat deployments?
- Oh yeah.
Fallujah, Iraq, Marjah push in Afghanistan.
- Fuck yeah, man.
- Sensitive ears around here.
- Yeah, right.
Sorry.
- It took me a while.
The real world gets offended.
(whispering) Especially the word pussy.
(both chuckle) - Greg, where are those project reports?
- Hey Adam, this is Peachy.
- I wanted to turn those in this morning.
- Well, I had some VA appointments I had to go to this morning, some personal stuff.
And you said you just needed 'em by today.
- [Adam] Give 'em to me by the end of the day today.
- Yeah, copy.
- And you can't show your tattoos in the office.
- Roger that.
You miss the teams yet?
(Peachy chuckles) - Yeah, so I just stayed in, watched the new "Dogman" series.
- Not much for war stuff.
- Me neither.
Dumb military guys trying to be tough, big weapons, F-bombs.
I feel like they're using mental trauma to justify war.
It makes me real men look bad.
I don't tell a lot of people this, but I've done TaeKwonDo my entire life.
- [Co-Worker] So you're like a badass?
- (chuckles) No, I just mean I know violence, you know?
I don't believe society should promote narratives that could provoke guys like me.
(chuckles) That's all I'm saying.
- Hey, Peachy, right?
- Yeah.
How's it going?
- Oh, man.
Mike.
I heard you wear a Seal.
- Yeah.
Was.
- Thank you for your service.
I always wish I could have done something like that.
Just never had what it takes.
- Why?
- Always been kind of a small guy.
- You know?
I had this really small teammate who was shot 25 times, accidentally left behind for dead, but when he woke up, he killed every enemy in the building with just his pistol.
Never count yourself out.
- I'm just an office assistant, but if there's anything I can do to help you, just lemme know.
- Thanks Mike, I appreciate it.
- Hey, Doug, Doug, this is Peachy.
He's a Navy Seal.
- Nah, I was just a dumb military guy doing his job.
(door blasts open) - Get down, get down, get down!
- [Teammate] Hands!
- [Teammate 2] Hands up, hands up!
- Lemme your hands!
(gunshots firing) - Hands, hands, hands!
Hands!
Lemme see your hands!
- Fuck you!
- Take 'em.
- Get the fuck down!
(men struggling) (whistle blows) - Index.
- [Teammate 3] Security rounds.
Really, bro?
- Why the fuck'd you shoot the guy with no weapon?
His hands were up.
- [Teammate 4] Intel said it was a bomb maker's house.
Told him to get down.
He was poised to maneuver.
Could have took down the whole building.
- Good.
Know exactly why you took that shot.
Why he didn't, also.
We don't just take a life.
We take the right lives and we know exactly why.
All right, let's get lunch.
Be back at 1300.
Jocked up, ready for full house runs.
My man.
What the fuck's up, brother?
Ah, good, man?
- Title for the Harley.
It was buried in storage.
- Bro, you could have just mailed it to me, man.
You know I don't give a fuck.
- Eh it gave me an excuse to come say what's up man Besides, nice watching dudes actually care about their job.
- Come run some contracts with us, bro.
I could use you.
- It's tempting.
- You talked to Danny?
- Nah, I've just been trying to lay low.
- He's back.
He got out.
- He didn't wanna do contracting?
- Said he had something in the works.
Fuckin' life-changing shit.
Danny fuckin' Dravot.
I can't hang with this crazy bro.
- He's crazy, but he's not dumb.
He ain't gonna walk into something knowing he ain't comin out - True.
He asked about you, though.
Said I didn't know you were.
- Thanks.
I mean, who knows?
Maybe I'll reach out.
- Look, I get it, man.
Going through some existential shit.
- Wanting something normal is existential?
- Hmm.
Look man, landlords deal evictions.
We deal death.
It's business.
Normal is what you think it is.
- Yeah, coming from the guy with a happy family who went to Harvard.
- You know after 9/11 left school went to the teams and there I thought you and I were different.
When I was a new guy, you said something to me that stuck with me.
"Guys like us, we're born fighters and killers.
But protectors."
You can run, trust me.
You'll never get away from yourself.
You face that first, big bro.
- I gotta roll.
- Hey, don't be getting all soft on me, yeah?
- See?
Look who's talking?
Look at this shit.
(distant muffled chatter) (loud gunshots firing) (distant shouting) (gunfire continues) - Hey, come to me.
It's okay.
Come on.
Come on.
Shit.
- Peach!
Just let her go!
(gunshots fire) (teammate struggling and gasping) - Peach... (crying) I'm sorry.
(gasping) (breathlessly) Thank you.
I don't wanna die, Peach, please.
Get me outta here, Peach.
- We go through this every day.
(teammate gasps softly) (ambient somber music) (ambient somber music continues) - It's okay.
(Peach sighs) - Come on, let's go get a beer.
Come on.
No shit, there we were, just sitting in the barracks, minding our own business.
And all of a sudden, bam!
You look outside, there's a body on the ground.
This big dumbass PFC.
He gets up and he's drunk as fuck, and he's like, "Third fuckin' story, woo!"
(Peach laughs) He jumped all the way down.
I mean, he walked it off, right?
But he's just like, he's fuckin' limping.
Fucking Marines, man.
- Do you miss it?
The Marines?
- I mean, I miss the guys.
Nowhere on earth are you gonna find guys like that.
- Why'd you get out?
- Had a daughter.
My wife, she was tired of me being gone.
You got family?
- Nah.
Teams was my family.
- Why'd you get out?
Did you hate the job?
- Actually, I loved it.
I was good at it, too.
Civilian life has not been what I thought it would be.
- No.
Providing for my family is the only thing that keeps me going sometimes.
- You deal with the... any of the, you know, mental shit?
- You mean... (whispers) the PTSD?
Shit, bro.
We all do.
I mean, I enlisted at 18, you know?
Everyone else is off partying in college, and there I am, not even old enough to drink, frickin' best friends blowing up all around me.
- You know, one day, I was driving over the bridge to Coronado, and there was this girl on the top on the side, and she just slid forward.
I parked, I ran over to look, and there she was, floating face down, blood all around her in the water.
It's funny.
All I've seen?
Nothing affected me like that, did.
- Why is that?
- People that died, we've killed.
They all fight for life.
This was different.
I saw that look on her face the moment she made that decision.
That there's no hope.
I often wonder, if I'd just gotten there a few seconds earlier, there was something I could have said to stop her.
- What would you have said?
- I don't know.
I always wonder that.
I love you?
Maybe that's all she needed to hear.
- Trust me, brother.
I know what you're going through.
We can do this shit together.
(Peachy chuckles) Whatever this shit is.
- Hey, Tina.
- Hey.
- Peachy!
Man, I wanted to see you.
Doing good?
- Yeah, thanks.
A group of us are playing golf on Saturday.
Jeff's private club hired five strippers to caddy for us.
Be great to have you out, there tell some cool stories.
You down?
- Sorry, I already got plans.
- Alright, man no worries.
Next time, huh?
Well, hey, listen.
People don't understand what I go through, but I gotta fire someone.
Guy's having a bunch of issues.
Did a favor by hiring, He's just not cutting it.
Anyways, need a witness.
HR protocol.
You mind?
(Peachy sighs) Greg, thanks for being here.
I don't wanna waste your time, so I'll cut to the chase.
Adam informed me you've been having some issues.
(somber soft rock music) (somber soft rock music continues) (somber soft rock music continues) (birds chirping) (doorbell rings) (knocking on door) (distant dog barking) - Greg!
Fuck.
(door busts open) (dissonant ambient tone plays) (somber piano plays) (somber piano continues) (somber piano continues) (somber piano continues) (somber piano continues) (somber piano continues) (somber soft post-rock music continues) (distant coughing) (post-rock music continues) You a Marine?
I love you.
(soft TV chatter) (Peachy huffs) (ominous post-rock music plays) (post-rock music continues) (post-rock music continues) (ominous music builds) (gun clicks) (bullet clatters) (bullets clattering) (ominous music continues) (pages flipping) - This one of those companies I hear about, got a veteran hiring quota to say they care but could give a shit less.
What the fuck is a pipe hitter like you doing here?
- How did you find me?
- Come on, brother.
It's not the nineties.
I'm sorry to hear about your friend.
Real world, it's not for guys like us.
- Heard you got out.
Got some big op in your pocket?
- I knew you'd talked to Brady.
- Not in the game anymore, man.
- I got something a little different.
It's worth hearing out.
A place called Kafiristan.
What are you afraid of?
- You know, we've been in the scariest places a man could ever be in.
But it's funny, bro.
Not once do I ever remember a time I was afraid.
Actually made me feel like I was fucked up.
The one thing I am terrified of, Becoming another statistic at the fuckin' VA.
(dissonant ambient music plays) (ambient post-rock music) (ambient post-rock music continues) (ambient post-rock music continues) (ambient post-rock music continues) ♪ There comes the time for leaving ♪ ♪ You live that life, you've seen that story through ♪ ♪ All these things that you are seeing ♪ ♪ Only darkness, clouds come down on you ♪ ♪ Comes a time for leaving ♪ ♪ You've seen that life, you've lived that story through ♪ ♪ These things that you are seeing now♪ ♪ I thought you left, but they ain't leavin' you ♪ ♪ It's time to get along now ♪ ♪ There aint no one there ♪ ♪ It's time to pay the bill ♪ ♪ We were laughing through our lyin ♪ ♪ How could I know you told the truth ♪ ♪ So many things that I couldn't say to you ♪ ♪ But I love you, my dear friend ♪ ♪ I hope you knew ♪ (ambient post-rock music continues) (ambient post-rock music continues) ♪ There's so much we got to do now ♪ ♪ How could I leave behind the chosen few ♪ ♪ And there's someone out there struggling tonight but ♪ ♪ Don't close the door ♪ ♪ We're comin' through ♪ (ambient post-rock music softens) ♪ There comes a time for leaving ♪ ♪ Can't shake it off ♪ ♪ Mm ♪
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GI Film Festival San Diego is a local public television program presented by KPBS















