A couple of years ago, Kyra Elise Gardner – who happens to be the daughter of special effects artist and puppeteer Tony Gardner, who has been bringing killer doll Chucky (and Tiffany and Glen) to life for the last twenty years – took viewers on a journey through the Child’s Play franchise with the documentary Living With Chucky. Now, Deadline reports that Gardner has made her scripted feature directorial debut with the horror dramedy Slay, which also happens to be the feature writing debut of actor Jimmi Simpson.
Zoey Luna (The Craft: Legacy) and Aya Cash (The Boys) star in the film, which recently wrapped production. The story centers on seven high school seniors whose weekend of backstabbing turns literal. The cast also includes Sean Giambrone (The Goldbergs), Malina Pauli Weissman (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Beck Nolan (Good Guy with a Gun), Reise Alexander (The Invisible Girl), River Alexander (The Way Way Back), Talia Jackson (Family Reunion), Ruby McCollister (Uncle Peckerhead), Ken Bray (Mayor of Kingstown), and genre icon Shawnee Smith, whose credits include the 1988 remake of The Blob and multiple films in the Saw franchise.
Gardner and Simpson produced Slay with Harrison Rothman, Scott Foley, and Bradley Sloan.
Simpson told Deadline, “I wrote Slay about that moment in adolescence where you realize your friends know how to hurt you better than anyone else. Slay lives right there— but with sick music, jokes and stabbings.” Gardner, who had a decade of short film directing credits to her name before Living With Chucky went out into the world, added, “I think horror, at its best, reveals what we can’t say out loud to each other. This movie let me explore that, not with cruelty but with character— through girls trying to be women and boys trying not to be afraid. And it’s always fun for me when fake blood is involved.” There’s no word on whether or not Gardner asked her dad to supply the fake blood for the movie.
Does Slay sound interesting to you? Share your thoughts on this Kyra Elise Gardner / Jimmi Simpson collaboration by leaving a comment below.
