ALL OF US MONSTERS
DECK
ALL OF US MONSTERS is a razor sharp, psychological horror film that centers on two women who form a deadly friendship after one discovers that the other has the supernatural ability to make people disappear.
Naomi is a struggling artist who can trap people in her portraits simply by painting them — a skill she developed after a traumatic accident. Jess is an interior designer with years of her own bad experiences to support her desire to take down anyone who even looks at her wrong. Together they act as both judge and jury, killing those they deem “bad” and making their bodies disappear. But as Naomi’s connection to Jess deepens, and the emotional wall she has built between her and her victims crumbles, she starts to realize that they might be bad people too.
And bad people should get what they deserve, right?
NAOMI
Mid 20s, shy but driven, a talented abstract artist with a deadly secret.
All Naomi has ever wanted was to be an artist like her late mother, but she can’t catch a break. Bills are piling up. She’s lost her job. And she can’t seem to get on the radar of the top curator in town. So Naomi starts making her problems go away the only way she knows how — by painting them.
Once she befriends Jess — someone who truly sees her, understands her frustrations, and accepts her at her best and worst — she’s empowered to fully indulge her gift, leading to a string of beautiful portraits and dead bodies.
JESS
Mid 20s, cool, chic and confident, Naomi’s new next-door neighbor with a lot of rage.
People stop to stare when Jess walks into a room. Not only is she beautiful and always impeccably dressed, but her personality seduces people. However, past the exterior, she’s often disregarded and objectified incessantly. Jess wants to be seen as the powerful person she is, not a weak thing.
She, too, lost her mother at a young age. Although she’s been the cause of her own trauma, she has just enough baggage to be vengeful. Making everyone from the sleazy guy at the bar to the city’s 1% a nemesis who deserves retribution. Jess wants to be on top and Naomi’s her ticket there. They can get away with killing anyone, clearing a path for them – and anybody like them – to ascend. If you could, wouldn’t you? is her mentality.
CHARACTERS
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Carrie
Early 40s; Owner of the most respected art gallery in the city; To-die-for style that matches her no-nonsense personality. Carrie is a force to be reckoned with, that is until she offends both Jess and Naomi.
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Damien
20s, gay, a successful financial planner and Naomi's best friend from college. He's a big supporter of her work, but he's also Carrie’s nephew. His desire to stay in his aunt's good graces complicates things.
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Daphne
Late 20s; Carrie’s assistant who’s very good at her job despite her anxiety-inducing boss. Her efficiency though, and need to get to the bottom of everything, is what lands her and Steve in a bit of trouble.
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Steve
30s, extremely charismatic; A moderately successful artist with a huge crush on Damien; Is good friends with Daphne and always down to go along with her ideas for better or worse.
Naomi
“They found blood on the carpet?!”
Jess
“Her blood. You should really watch the news, Naomi. There’s good stuff on there.”
The Style
Inspiration: Saint Maud meets Bound
Although we have some big set pieces, the majority of this film takes place indoors between our two leads, so we want it to feel intimate like Saint Maud, but pulsating like Bound.
The camera movement will create a heightened experience for the audience, compelling them to lean in. The sound design will evoke suspense and dread, while the soundtrack will set the tone and vibe. We want the production design to be detailed, giving purpose to every featured prop and using them to subtly foreshadow plot and tension.
We’re not watching two people in a room. We’re watching a friendship grow, a world expand, and enticing yet horrific events unfold. And we can’t take our eyes off of it.
The Tone
Inspiration: Bodies Bodies Bodies meets Promising Young Woman
This film is a fun, bloody ride. Despite people being murdered and trapped in paintings, the levity that Jess and Naomi bring to every scene with their clever banter, no matter how horrific, will have you gasping and then laughing immediately after. They go on a journey of self-discovery and reflection, lined with corpses, art and hauntings so terrifying it’ll give you nightmares.
Imagine the fun of Bodies Bodies Bodies meets the high stakes of Promising Young Woman. This is the revenge female buddy horror film you’ve been waiting for.
The Themes
Friendship
Loneliness
Acceptance
Hypocrisy
Karma
“We’re all monsters. You, me, Shane, Carrie. All of us. It’s just a matter of whether or not you want to be prey, or predator to someone else’s monster.”
— Jess
Director’s Statement
For many of us, the best type of friendships are easy, fun, and filled with support and radical acceptance. And the isolation of the 2020 pandemic showed us that we want them more than ever now. But what happens when relationships turn? For Jess and Naomi, they align completely before they diverge – and what creates that divergence is a subtle question of values.
This is a story about a friendship gone sour. However, telling it through a genre lens allows us to have fun with the characters and weave in the central themes of our own moral compasses and loneliness – an epidemic for our generation to say the least. There’s an irony to the universal nature of isolation, isn’t there? Yet this movie is so accessible because it’s specific in addressing our fear of being lonely and what we’re willing to do in order to not be alone. Where’s the line? And what’s a friendship worth?
These are the questions Naomi and Jess ask themselves in the most unhinged way. But it’s also what we want the audience to ask themselves when they walk out of the theater. Meanwhile, we plan to give them a great time at the most entertaining movie of the year.
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