Bret Easton Ellis, the author of American Psycho, Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction, is set to make his directorial debut with Relapse, a Los Angeles-set “elevated horror” starring Stranger Things‘ Joseph Quinn.
Variety, who reported the news exclusively today, report that Quinn (who can also be seen in the upcoming A Quiet Place: Day One) will play the role of “Matt Cullen, who checks into rehab after witnessing a horrific death during a drugged-up party”. A full plot synopsis, which sounds just as debauched and satirical as all of Easton Ellis’ works, reads as follows:
Three months later, he is set to get his life back together, staying at his parent’s mansion in the hills of Los Angeles. But things have changed around Matt and everything seems off balance. Fueled by his unstable personality and the invading power of social media, Matt’s paranoia grows, messing up with his rehabilitation program. 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,
While Relapse marks Easton Ellis’ first time in the director’s chair (for a feature film, at least – he wrote and directed the webseries The Deleted back in 2016), he has written and produced a number of movies, including 2013’s The Canyons and 2020’s Smiley Face Killers.
On his podcast, The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, the author expanded on his love of horror (quotes via Variety):
“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.”
Variety also lets us know that Paris-based sales agent SND has boarded the project as producer, alongside Adrian Guerra’s Nostromo (Penny Dreadful) and Simon Wallon’s Kiss & Kill (Bonnie). SND will handle worldwide sales on Relapse, as well as French distribution, and will tease the title at the the upcoming European Film Market.
We’ll bring you more updates on Relapse as and when we get them!
