Some films announce their intentions from the very first frame, and Legend Has It is absolutely one of them — loud, chaotic, and gleefully committed to its own absurdity. Thomas Lorber’s action‑comedy short takes a premise so simple it could fit on a cocktail napkin — a stripper walks into the wrong hotel room — and spins it into seventeen minutes of escalating, wonderfully stupid mayhem.
Jon Cor leads the charge as Adam, a male stripper whose late‑night booking goes sideways when he knocks on the door of room 1414 instead of 1404. Instead of a hen party waiting for a bit of cheeky entertainment, he finds a room full of French gangsters in the middle of a tense interrogation. The mob boss (Tom Morton) is hunting for a rat, tempers are high, guns are out… and then Adam starts grinding.
What follows is a beautifully timed comedy of mistaken identity, the kind where the audience is always one step ahead of the characters. Lorber milks the awkwardness for all it’s worth — the mobsters trying to reconcile this gyrating “assassin,” Adam trying to figure out why no one’s tipping — until the whole thing erupts into a bizarre showdown between a confused stripper and a very stressed‑out crime boss. It’s ridiculous, but in the best possible way.
Cor is the film’s secret weapon. He brings the kind of swagger and physical confidence that makes the whole misunderstanding feel almost plausible. There’s a touch of Brad Pitt‑in‑Burn After Reading energy here — that mix of charm, cluelessness, and total commitment to the bit. The supporting cast matches him beat for beat, leaning into the heightened tone without ever tipping into parody.
Visually and rhythmically, Legend Has It feels bigger than its budget. Lorber keeps the pace tight, the gags sharp, and the action surprisingly punchy. It’s the kind of short that knows exactly what it is and refuses to apologise for any of it.
The director’s statement adds an unexpected layer — a reflection on cultural collision, identity, and embracing the parts of yourself you once tried to hide. You wouldn’t necessarily expect that kind of personal resonance from a film involving a stripper accidentally lap‑dancing a mob boss, but that sincerity peeks through in the film’s confidence and playfulness.
Legend Has It is bold, brash, and proudly ridiculous — a short that embraces spectacle and silliness with open arms. It’s seventeen minutes of pure, unpretentious fun, and it absolutely knows how to work a room.
