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A new short horror film named What A Catch, which combines bloody scares with a critique of the fishing industry, is now available to watch online.
The film was created by Tom Pickering, the writer and director of 2024’s well-received documentary I Could Never Go Vegan. Pickering wrote, directed, and produced What A Catch through his award-winning company Lock The Tent Productions. The new horror short follows a Victorian fisherman as his evening trip to the lake takes a “sinister turn.”
Writing on Instagram, Pickering said: “This film was really all about trying to combine my love of horror and genre filmmaking in general, with my constant quest to try and make a statement with the work that I do. […] I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved with this film, and it really prompted some great conversations with audiences.”
Pickering told Plant Based News (PBN) he has toured What A Catch at “some of the biggest genre/horror film festivals around the globe,” including 2024’s Frightfest, Chicago Horror Film Festival, Celluloid Screams, and The Horror Cut, as well as 2025’s HorrorHound Film Festival.
Pickering has won or been nominated for several awards for his work on What A Catch, including Best Director at Tuesday of Horror and Best Editor at Short Stop International Film Festival, while the film itself took first place for Best Mini Short at 2024’s Short to the Point.
Read more: ‘I Could Never Go Vegan’ Ads Take Over London Underground
Vegan horror films and ‘changing’ viewers’ perspectives
Up to 2.2 trillion wild fish are caught globally each year, with approximately half going towards feed for farmed animals. The fishing industry is catastrophic for the environment, and it’s widely criticized for demonstrating cruelty on an incomprehensible scale. In What A Catch, Pickering subverts one commonplace but extremely bloody fishing practice in particular.
“[The film] performed extremely well and screened to so many different non-vegans,” said Pickering. “It’s been amazing to have people reach out and say how it’s changed their perspective on how they look at things, as it’s effectively an activism film that they weren’t expecting to watch.”
What A Catch is available now on YouTube.
Read more: How Many Sharks Are Killed Per Year?
