Joseph Quinn is used to monsters, as he starred in Stranger Things, but he’s facing a much different beast in his new film. Famed author Bret Easton Ellis is set to make his feature film debut with a new film titled Relapse. The project is described as an ‘elevated horror” and will be set in Los Angeles. There’s also a monster monster element to it.
Relapse will follow Matt Cullen (Quinn), who checks into rehab after witnessing a horrific death during a drugged-up party. 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.
Per the official synopsis: “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.”
Bret Easton Ellis is best known for his landmark novels like Less Than Zero, Lunar Park, and American Psycho. There’s also been a handful of adaptations of his work, including the cult classic 2000 horror American Psycho.
“I grew up watching the iconic horror movies of the 1970s,” said Ellis. “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.”