Editor’s Note: All month long, we’re bringing you special deep dives with Jon Lee Brody, award-winning actor/filmmaker and co-host of the horror podcast That Was Pretty Scary with Freddie Prinze Jr. We kicked it off last week with Mike Dougherty’s modern classic, Trick ‘r Treat and we continue the fun with Tragedy Girls.
We’re in the age of influencers, social media-driven narratives, and an uptick in True Crime content consumption. But before this boom, a wonderful horror movie called Tragedy Girls presented a scenario: What if true crime bloggers not only reported true crimes but were also the cause and creators of those crimes? Tragedy Girls also explores what can happen when the external validation of the public comes to you in droves and how that becomes like a high to constantly chase. Writer/Director Tyler MacIntyre was definitely ahead of the curve when this movie was released in 2017.
Given that the movie is predicated upon social media presence and our leads (played by Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp) need to be seen and heard, the audience has to buy into the scenario and also toe the line between rooting for our leads even though they’re moral compass may not align with the viewers’. Not unlike Trick ‘r Treat, the opening minutes are crucial for us to buy in and get a sense of the status quo. The opening includes a mini-sequence that was crafted very well, served the story, provided information, and demonstrated great use of lateral movement and wipe transitions.
So before this mini sequence, we start on this eerie-looking bridge with the obligatory shot of high schoolers making out in the backseat of a car, which is reminiscent of the copious amount of teen horror movies you all no doubt have consumed. This opening shot also begs the question of whether this is the ONLY place for them to do this?
By design, the scene feels like a run-of-the-mill slasher movie where a girl hears a noise and asks the guy to check it out. The movie overall has a self-referential element to it, not unlike Scream. We do get the slasher moment of the guy investigating the sound and getting killed, of course. Naturally, we think the girl is next, and for a moment it looks like that, but in a fun twist, it turns out this was a trap that McKayla and Sadie set to capture this serial killer Lowell Orson Lehmann, and they used their friend Craig as bait to pull it off. This leads to an epic title card with an ’80s horror vibe. And I’m here for it!
It’s after the epic ’80s title card that we learn that these two girls are true crime bloggers, and they captured Lowell in an effort to increase their clout. After he refuses, the girls decide they will control the narrative by committing the murders themselves and utilizing Lowell as the scapegoat for their misadventures. This is all in an effort to get more social media likes and followers so they can reach elite influencer-type status.
This brings us to our mini-sequence, which I really enjoy. It gives us enough information to stay intrigued, and it’s also presented in a stylistic way. The style isn’t just for aesthetics, it really does serve a great purpose in the story — there’s a great shot that kicks it off with McKayla shoving Lowell into the darkness. Not only does this look cool, but it also symbolizes McKayla truly leaning into her dark side; it shows she’ll go to any lengths to get what she wants.
From the darkness, we get a great match/wipe transition and a glimpse of McKayla’s home life (establishing her double identity). The camera continues to move, and we then utilize the same wipe transition to see Sadie’s home life. We see the contrast of the two girls, and the commonality of their double identities. The theme of the wipe transitions continues, and we land at a laptop, emphasizing the important role the internet and social media play in this story. Going from the hands typing to the full screen of what’s being typed out shows how much of a priority social media is for these girls. Also, notice that the camera moves from left to right. Traditionally, going from left to right shows that time is passing and there’s no going back. The girls are locked into this journey. And so is the audience.
I love this next transition that takes us from the computer screen to school, utilizing a person walking across the frame to take us to the next scene, stylistically in the vein of Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
The camera keeps moving and we stay in wide shots so we can not only simultaneously see the reactions of everyone when they get the information from McKayla and Sadie but also because it makes this sequence feel like we’re getting this info and then passing it on to the next group like a game of telephone.
As more information is being relayed to more people, we continue to match/wipe transition utilizing a person walking across the screen. And as more of these rumors are shared, we get these subtle superimposed social media notifications to show that the word is spreading digitally and further establish the twisted role that social media plays in this story.
This happens again. And again. The word spreads, and the like count goes up. This then leads us to this two-shot here of Sadie and McKayla continuing to push the agenda of their true crime blog. And here is an interesting thing for me. Tyler strategically only uses a clean single of McKayla here, letting the audience know that McKayla is the one truly devoted to making this plan work. She’s the one that’s really trying to drive this story along. By isolating her coverage and then having a reverse here, we are clued in on the fact that McKayla is the one on a truly dark path. Then we’re back in a two-shot to show these two in tandem, back to a single shot to illustrate it’s two against one. Then, one last little look from McKayla, again showing that she’s the one really trying to push the agenda.
When Tyler moves the camera like this during the ‘rumor mill roundup’, it symbolizes how quickly information (true or false) can spread, especially in high school and with social media added to the mix. We move quickly because that’s the pace our girls are going in their determination to blow up as internet celebrities and how they’re not really present in situations unless it concerns their work. Case in point, even when they’re sitting still in class, they’re texting one another. They’re physically in class, but mentally elsewhere.
This is why these wipe transitions are so useful, they help the sequence flow and immerse the audience in these rumors along with McKayla and Sadie’s classmates. Would the sequence still give the same information had these transitions not been there? Sure, but the impact wouldn’t have been the same. (In the video portion below, I demonstrate how different this would look without the slick transitions.) This entire sequence is visually appealing and also establishes all of the important elements that will come into play as the movie progresses.
Tragedy Girls gives you what you hope for and want in a horror movie but also offers a valid commentary on how we as a society tend to correlate our own self-worth with what strangers on social media think of us. And telling this under the umbrella of horror and dark comedy makes for a very fun and thought-provoking watch. I hope this opening sequence breakdown motivates you to take the time to check out the movie as a whole. It’s one of those films that has become more relevant as time passes and as social media keeps growing. The film’s title may have the word tragedy in it, but the movie itself is anything but that. The only tragedy here is more people didn’t see this gem of a movie, but hopefully that will change now.
Check out the full deep dive video below, and find Jon on Instagram and TikTok. Follow That Was Pretty Scary on both IG and TikTok, and be sure to join us next week for another Halloween deep dive treat.
