From the Drain
1967 film by David Cronenberg
From the Drain is a 1967 Canadian short film directed by David Cronenberg.
Plot summary
The film is centered on two men in a bathtub; it is implied that they are veterans of some past conflict but revealed that they are currently in a mental institution. The first man is paranoid about the drain of the tub, the second indifferent to it. After the conversation between the two men progresses, a vine-like tendril emerges from the drain to strangle the first man. The second shows no emotion to this sudden turn of events and the film ends.
Production
Cronenberg wrote, shot, directed, and edited the film using $500 (equivalent to $4,536 in 2025).
Release
The film was shown in June 1967 at the Cinethon festival.
Home video
The short was included along with Cronenberg's other early films on a bonus disc in Arrow Video's 2015 UK Blu-ray release of Videodrome. This bonus disc, entitled David Cronenberg's Early Works was later released on its own a year later.
References
Works cited
Rodley, Chris, ed.
The public source identifies “From the Drain” as 1967 film by David Cronenberg. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Drain, film and David.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “From the Drain”, the useful work is to connect “1967 film by David Cronenberg” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q125452. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967, 2025 and 2015.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “From the Drain”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow From the Drain primary sources, From the Drain archive and Drain research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “From the Drain”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “From the Drain” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.