"The Trial" is ultimately a romantic story about two young people who are madly in love, but at odds over their religious beliefs. Steven is a slightly selfish twenty-something played by the hip Casey Lee from MTV's Carmen Hip-Hop-Hopera. Tracy, played by Maia Campbell, is a straight-laced church-going girl who pours her heart into a church play that Steven misses, while playing hoop with his boys. The storyline is universal, as the two come to heads over Steven's diss, but the twist is awesome when Steven tells Tracy he loves her, but not God. Steven gets in a bad accident and his spirit is lifted out of his body in the coolest effects sequence I've ever seen in a short unfolds. Steven is taken to hell, where he meets the devil and learns everything Tracy told him about God and the spiritual world is true. It's definitely a religious film, but it's surprisingly done in a way that's not preachy.
