The Trap: Survivalist Stories

About the Film

The Trap is a window into the lives and challenges of individuals experiencing homelessness in Ojai.

Ojai is a place of curious juxtaposition. This film reveals one of its most striking contrasts: extraordinary wealth and privilege existing alongside extreme poverty, where even something as fundamental as a necessary visit to the doctor may be untenable.

The reasons someone may find themselves without a home are more varied, complicated, and tangled than one might expect—often shaped by a convergence of circumstances that are largely invisible from the outside. Behind every circumstance is a person, a history.

In the months since completing the film, one of the individuals featured has died. Others have disappeared. One has since moved into a halfway house. Another is still living in their car.

This is an exploration of the human spirit—its capacity to survive and endure, and experience connection, community, compassion, and purpose in the face of profound hardship.

At its heart are the people living these realities: their stories, their relationships, their resilience, and the quiet, often hard-won ways they continue to find meaning and recognize one another’s humanity.