Warning: Minor spoilers for #AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead
Summary
#AMFAD: All My Friends Are Deadis now in theaters after premiering atTribeca Film Festival, and the horror movie is a fun, meta look at the genre from director Marcus Dunstan (who is returning to theSawfranchise forSaw XI) and screenwriters Josh Sims and Jessica Sarah Flaum. While it begins with the familiar premise of friends on a road trip heading to a remote location only to find themselves picked off one by one, the film steps out of the genre’s conventions with its expert use of social media and truly surprising choice of killer.
Jade Pettyjohn (Little Fires Everywhere)plays Sarah, the plucky protagonist of#AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead, who has recently made friends with a shallow and popular group after stepping out of the shadows of her painful past. But it turns out her new friends have ugly pasts of their own, and it comes back to haunt them when the so-called Seven Deadly Sins Killer wreaks havoc on them before they can reach their Lollapalooza-esque concert destination. The stacked ensemble cast includes Jennifer Ens, Justin Derickson, Ali Fumiko Whitney, Julian Haig, Cardi Wong, Jack Doupe-Smith, and popstar JoJo Siwa.
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DuringScreen Rant’s Tribeca Film Festival interview, Dunstan and Pettyjohn gave a behind-the-scenes look at creating the Seven Deadly Sins Killer in#AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead. The duo also teased the possibility of following through with the movie’s promised sequel and shared why their latest stab at horror is uniquely Gen Z in nature.
Breaking Down The Look & History Of The Seven Deadly Sins Killer
Screen Rant: The digital mask of the killer was very cool. What does that look like on set, and what inspired it?
Marcus Dunstan: There were a number of things. Essentially, it was actually a consortium of mistakes that led to something great. We wanted something that felt like everything being digital is what’s creating the vulnerability. The mask was an opportunity to see that, and I wanted it to be a reflection of the face of that moment. It also gave us a window to the past because it could almost be a monitor.
It could have had a supernatural vibe, but ultimately it was this idea that we’re all sinners. “Here comes the guilt machine.”
Jade Pettyjohn: That was my favorite thing about it as well. You have the heart or through line of the film, which is the thing that you care about most haunting you as these deaths are occurring. And that I thought was really genius. It does makes you confront the past, whether these characters want to or not.
On set, it was terrifying because the visibility wasn’t very strong. Whoever’s in that suit, I was like, “Okay, we’re doing stunts, but you’re blind. Let’s be easy with each other.”
The history of the SDSK, or the Seven Deadly Sins Killer, is woven in throughout the movie. At the end, we actually get to meet that killer, and you hit us with “Coming back soon.” Was that planned from the start, and have you already built out that backstory?
Marcus Dunstan: We have all the hope and all the engine to return. Now, it is up to the audience. They tell us, and then we will begin.
Jade Pettyjohn: He’s the visionary here. All I know is making this film was really incredible, and working with Marcus and the whole team was a truly wonderful experience. I really do actually love this genre because this is the first time I’ve really dived into this particular field, and I love this character. I think there’s so much more to explore. So, I’m down!
There were so many fun sequences and kills too. How do you guys keep the kills fresh, both from a creative perspective and from the standpoint of paying homage to thescream queens of the past?
Marcus Dunstan: You have to watch everything, and you also have to respect everything. You have to decide, “What works and what can we pull off that doesn’t emulate, but either trumps what came before or comes at it from a new angle?”
We wanted a shocker. We wanted them all to have a “Whoa!” element to them, but then something else happened. Again, we were shooting in order. We got to know the people, we got to know the characters, and then our avenue to total originality opened up because it’s a reflection of them. It has something personal.
Jade Pettyjohn: I also think there’s something really interesting about the use of social media, and the dialogue of this film really represents Gen Z and what our culture is experiencing now. There is also this ode and respect to these great films of the past; all these great horror movies that we all love.
We’re not trying to break the wheel here, but you take this narrative and think that you know what something will be, and then you add this twist of the relevance of what people are experiencing today. It adds that originality and that question of, “Could you imagine something being as horrific as this?” I think that’s really what makes it interesting and adds to the shock.
Final question for you both: do you have a most significant memory from set? Either a scene you filmed that was most challenging, or a moment that you were proudest of?
Marcus Dunstan: This is an easy one. Jade has a moment where the whole film could tilt either way, and we understand why this person has the capability to maybe just maybe outsmart the mechanisms of the orchestrated death plan. And the way it announced itself rendered the entire set silent. At its completion, there was applause.
And this was not hour one; this was not like, “Hey, we just got paid.” This was at the end of a very long day. We’ve got to fight the clock, and we respectfully did. But it was a moment that made me feel absolute gratitude because she made it look like we had all the time and destiny to do it.
Jade Pettyjohn: It was awesome. My favorite moment was that one too.
We each shot in order, and this was towards the end, so I had been preparing this for a while. I knew that we didn’t have a lot of time on set, and it was really important that this particular scene was done right. So, I’d come home and put men’s shaving cream all over my body to get the blood off. And as that was sitting on my body, as I was trying to get all the blood out of my hair and face, I would prep this particular thing. I remember coming on, and I just had so much fun with it. I really loved the writing of it. I really loved my discussion with Marcus about it. I remember doing it, and then it got silent, and I was terrified.
I was like, “Oh, did I totally mess this up? It’s just dead silent.” And then the applause happened, and it was very sweet. I just really loved that. That was one of my favorite moments, honestly, as an actor.
Marcus Dunstan: Our first AD, who is the marshall of the clock, was blinking well past the point of calling “Cut.” If anything, he’s supposed to remove all that and just keep us going. But when I looked over at him, he just went, Chills!"
#AMFAD: All My Friends Are Deadis currently available In Select Theaters, On Digital, and On Demand.
Check out our previousinterview with Dunstan and Pettyjohnhere.
