As a tightly wound father’s public behavior draws growing scrutiny, he fights to protect his family while the world increasingly misreads who he is—and what he’s capable of.

SYNOPSIS:

Jeff Ellis is a tightly wound, middle-aged father struggling to maintain stability as his life begins to quietly unravel. Once dependable and respected, Jeff now finds himself increasingly isolated—at work, at home, and in public—his intentions repeatedly misread as something more volatile.

At the office, Jeff’s impatience and growing intensity raise concerns among coworkers and management. Meetings blur, conversations shut down, and Jeff senses an unspoken judgment forming around him. At home, his marriage to Anna grows strained as she attempts to shield their children from Jeff’s unpredictable emotional state. Jeff believes he is fighting to protect his family, but those closest to him seem to respond not to his words, but to how he makes them feel.

As small confrontations accumulate—on the street, in public spaces, and with authority figures—Jeff becomes acutely aware of how he is being perceived. Strangers create distance. Familiar routines feel charged. Desperate to regain control, Jeff makes a series of impulsive decisions, including legally purchasing a firearm out of state. Though he frames the purchase as self-defense, it only deepens the divide between himself and Anna.

When Anna asks Jeff to leave the house for the night, his sense of rejection hardens into emotional collapse. Alone in a roadside motel, Jeff spirals—attempting to justify his anger, rewrite his narrative, and convince himself he is not the man everyone fears. Haunted by the belief that he is being erased from his own life, Jeff returns home emotionally fractured and unstable.

In a devastating confrontation, Jeff fires the shotgun at Anna—only to realize she is unharmed. Reality fractures. Jeff is forced to confront the truth: his family is already gone. Through a series of haunting revelations, Jeff learns that Anna, believing Jeff was becoming dangerous, killed their children and then herself. The warnings, confrontations, and judgments Jeff experienced were not misunderstandings—but echoes of a tragedy that had already occurred.

The film concludes with Jeff alone, confronting the irreversible consequences of his isolation and rage. In the final moments, he completes the act he narrowly avoided throughout the story, leaving behind a chilling portrait of how fear, perception, and unspoken pain can destroy a family long before anyone realizes what is happening.

DEPTH PERCEPTION is a psychological thriller about misjudgment, emotional isolation, and the devastating power of perception.

DEPTH PERCEPTION