Joseph Quinn to star in Bret Easton Ellis’ directorial debut
Bret Easton Ellis is set to make his directorial debut with Relapse, starring Stranger Things actor Joseph Quinn.
The novelist, whose work has provided the basis for films such as Less Than Zero and American Psycho, is set to take the step up to the director’s chair for the first time. Although, Ellis has previously created the screenplay for four movies, including Paul Schrader’s 2013 erotic thriller The Canyons.
According to Variety, Relapse will star Quinn as Matt Cullen, who checks into a rehabilitation facility after witnessing a death at a hedonistic party. However, three months later, when everything seems to have fallen into place once he moves into his parents’ mansion in Los Angeles, an event changes Cullen’s life.
The synopsis for Relapse reads: “Fueled by his unstable personality and the invading power of social media, Matt’s paranoia grows, messing up with his rehabilitation program.”
It continues: “As he starts using again, a mysterious presence starts growing around Matt, and a monster that has been haunting him since he was a teenager reveals itself. His therapist tries to help, convinced that the monster is actually in Matt’s head.”
Meanwhile, Ellis noted: “I grew up watching the iconic horror movies of the 1970s. I’ve written Lunar Park, a horror novel, as an homage to Stephen King. It seems appropriate that my first feature would be a horror film. There is a simplicity to Relapse that seems like the perfect form for my directing debut: something direct and impactful.”
The first-time director also claimed he’s “never seen a monster movie in the kind of upscale LA setting I wrote about and I am familiar with”.
He continued: “It will have my strokes: sex, drugs and paranoia. It will also be a fun, lush, and commercial feature film for a lot of people to enjoy.”
Relapse is set to be produced by SND, who are taking a reel of the film to the European Film Market, which coincides with the Berlin Film Festival this month, as they hope to ramp up excitement. As of writing, no release date has been provided for the upcoming movie.
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