Cult series are always creating follow-ups. ‘Breaking Bad’ is one example that inspired many young directors to follow their dream and create their own revenge-fueled movie. When doing so, the budget is not a real problem; the big deal here is the story. ‘Road Less Traveled’, which is Aric Iverson’s short, is one of those cases. This film depicts a brief moment of betrayal that has to go according to the script we’re very familiar with: the rat is caught, someone has some photos of him talking to the police, and one of the characters has to kill him before things escalate. A classic move we’ve seen a hundred times.

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There aren’t any particular aspects in this short for us to be talking about, so we will try our best to find the ‘Breaking Bad’ inspired moments that one can find too in this short film. First of all, the killing of the so-called rat – the man is strangled the same way Krazy 8 is killed in the hit series, but this time, instead of a bike lock the guy uses a rope. Also, the way of finding and transporting the traitor is common to any movie that deals with some kind of rival gangs fighting. The split second of mercy one can see in the eye of the killer is the same mercy we’ve seen when Walter White killed Krazy 8 in Jesse’s basement. Also, the bits when the character is talking to himself are implying that the main character has multiple personalities, a good and a bad inner self that is fighting inside him. Also, as we've expected, the ending proves that the man was innocent, and all was a set-up.

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Sure, this short is well produced, but it resembles way too many ideas and themes we’ve seen in the past couple of years, reason why with this kind of repetitive story it’s almost impossible to bring something new to the market. Aric Iverson did prove he's got the skills, but now we (and probably other viewers too) are waiting for a new project from him, something that will blow our mind because he demonstrated that he is capable of creating suspense while properly drawing a storyline.