Code 8

Code 8 (2016) is a Canadian sci-fi short you can watch online on iFILM. Director Jeff Chan sets the story in Lincoln City, where four percent of people carry extraordinary abilities — and nearly all of them are stuck at the bottom of the social ladder, watched by a heavily armed police force that treats powers as a threat rather than a gift.

Robbie Amell plays Connor, a construction worker with abilities he has been keeping quiet. Stephen Amell — real-life cousins with Robbie — plays a figure on the opposite side of that divide. Eleven minutes is enough to put the premise and the tension in place without resolving either.

The short raised over two million dollars on Indiegogo, making it one of the most funded Canadian crowdfunding campaigns of its time, and led directly to the 2019 feature film of the same name. Stream Code 8 (2016) online on iFILM.