A boy in glasses stares at his reflection in steel lift doors

The Other Way Out

Averius Wan as the lead/DrugFreeSG 2026/2nd place, Youth category

A socially isolated sixteen-year-old finds temporary relief in pills after a series of seemingly innocuous interactions normalises their use, only to face the consequences of his choices.

Alone, mostly

He's sixteen and on the outside of everything. Everyone else's weekends arrive through his phone. Nobody's cruel to him. He just isn't really there.

Nothing big

The pills don't show up as a decision. They show up in small, ordinary moments, a word here, an offer there, until taking them feels normal. That was the part we cared most about getting right: it never looks dangerous while it's happening.

The way back

Then the consequences land. He's left facing his own reflection, and the music he used to love is going quiet. What brings him back isn't a speech. It's a photograph, and picking his guitar up again.

An empty road at night outside an HDB block, with the production title painted on the tarmac — Opening. The estate at night.

A boy in a football jersey scrolls through group photos on his phone in his bedroom — Everyone else's weekend, on a screen.

Three boys talk in a covered corridor lined with shops — The kind of conversation that starts it.

A boy in glasses looks into the reflection on steel lift doors — The reflection.

Playing him

He doesn't say much, so most of the role had to happen without lines. Where he looks, how long he waits before answering, how he holds the phone. I had to get comfortable being still on camera, which is harder than it sounds.

The scenes with the reflection were the ones I thought about the most. He's not talking to anyone there. He's just seeing himself clearly for the first time in a while.

2nd place, Youth category, DrugFreeSG 2026.

The team holding certificates on stage at DrugFreeSG 2026 — On stage with the certificates, 24 October.

Averius Wan applauding on stage with the team at the DrugFreeSG 2026 ceremony — At the ceremony.

Lead: Averius Wan

The Other Way Out

Alone, mostly

Nothing big

The way back

Playing him

More work