Director: Sarah Young
Writer: Sarah Young
Stars: Tori Ernst, Charlie McElveen, Katharine Chin, Ryan Nicholas Cooper
Synopsis: When her husband turns strange and violent, a wife becomes convinced he is possessed. But will anyone believe her?
“It’s fine,” said no one ever when things were actually fine. But that’s how Michelle (Toni Ernst) begins describing her relationship with her husband John (Charle McElveen) to her best friend Kim (Katherine Chin). Key word: begins. In the same breath, Michelle says, “And then, all of a sudden, he’s just… wrong.” Wrong how, exactly? Kim suggests that John is probably just stressed at work – or, better yet, that he’s simply being a pain in the ass because he’s hungry – the tried and true excuse for the unraveling male whose actions cannot be made sense of by anyone other than the person enduring them. When Michelle raises the possibility that John could be possessed, it’s met with Kim’s scoff and a thinly veiled, “Do you hear yourself?” After all, the John that everyone else sees must be the same version that Michelle sees behind closed doors.
Isn’t that the case in every outwardly-perfect marriage? It’s this question, among other simply-posed yet deftly-executed ideas, that Sarah Young’s mysterious and dark short, Not Him, examines. In just 14 minutes, Young crafts the indelible image of a union that, for those involved, is crumbling due to the spirit that wishes to dismantle it from within, while what friends and neighbors chalk it up to is the need for a buffer. But Michelle is hardly crazy: John, the man she loves, is no longer the same man she married, but not because of his job nor an unsatisfied appetite. When he returns to their apartment after a long day at the office, his strange behavior is far closer to that of a violent stranger than a frustrated finance bro. There’s just one problem: Who will believe the only woman who can see what’s really going on here? Especially when whatever is inside John is doing a bang-up job masquerading as the handsome, charming guy who buys pizza and beer for the gang?
“You can scream to the world that your husband isn’t your husband,” the clearly-possessed John demonically tells his distressed better half. “But how do you think that’s going to go for you?” For much of the film’s brief runtime, the answer, insofar as there is one, is “not well.” But the more aggressive “John’s” behavior becomes, the blacker his eyes go, to the point where it’s unclear what (or who) is behind them. Young, who has plans for a feature-length adaptation of the short, would do well with more room to operate, yet the demented possibility that Not Him raises doesn’t require concrete answers given its command over tension and the raw factor of fear with which it is imbued. If anything, the lack of context that Young’s script provides makes the desire for a deeper look that much more intense.
I spoke with Young about her plans for the extended adaptation, the genesis of her short’s idea, and the depiction of domestic violence in today’s cinema. Our conversation includes spoilers for Not Him.
Will Bjarnar: How did the idea for this film – your first as both writer and director – come about?
Sarah Young: I am primarily a director, so yes you’re right this was my first time writing my own script. I have always been a fan of genre filmmaking as I think it’s a great opportunity to explore challenging subjects in a more accessible way. So I knew I wanted to work in the horror genre. One night I had a nightmare that was basically the opening of the short, I woke up, and furiously started writing based on that image. It became clear to me that what I was writing about was domestic violence through the lens of demonic possession so I dove into that concept.
WB: Let’s talk about that opening sequence. Not Him starts with a familiar image, that of a husband moving his hand to his wife’s as they lay in bed, sleeping. But then John’s grip tightens, and we see him climb atop Michelle as his eyes go black, almost as though a switch has been flipped in a manner of seconds. Why did you choose to open the film this way?
SY: That’s it exactly! That was my nightmare. Sadly I think that’s everyone’s nightmare, and an all too real one for a lot of folks. The person you love, the person who is supposed to protect you, turning on you and hurting you. Like most people unfortunately I too have a personal relationship with domestic violence, so I have my own experience to draw from, and I’ve had really intense conversations with many survivors. I wanted to give the audience a glimpse into the emotional experience of domestic violence with this opening, a peaceful night that turns on the whims of the abuser.
WB: Immediately following that moment, we see Michelle recount her experience to her friend Kim, who initially brushes John’s actions off as one of either work-related exhaustion or hunger. However, Kim later comes to understand that Michelle really did see what she described. How crucial was it for you to deploy that juxtaposition between initial skepticism and eventual belief, especially in a narrative that is so clearly entrenched in, as you’ve described it, the fight for domestic violence victims to be believed?
SY: Extremely. I’m so pleased to hear you describe it that way. It’s a challenge to tackle a subject as big as domestic violence in a short film (the film is just under 15 mins) and it was very important to me that this was a story about a victim who is eventually believed, which helps her find her strength again. But it’s not an easy thing to ask for help, and it can be a struggle for people, even those close to the victims, to fully grasp the situation. We want to believe the best in people, we don’t want to think that those around us could be monsters in their own homes, especially if they are people we already have relationships with. But sometimes all it takes to save a life is one person to believe a victim to save their life.
WB: You’ve previously mentioned that films like The Babadook and Smile were on your mind in relation to Not Him, especially how those are films that explore mental illness and grief. Were there any standout cinematic influences you had in crafting the thematic contents of Not Him? As I watched, I felt like I could see some shades of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, specifically in relation to that film’s titular character struggling to find someone who would believe her. Gaslight was on my mind, too.
SY: Yes, The Babadook in particular is one of my favorites and a big influence on me as a filmmaker. Smile is another great example of using horror to talk about mental health. Gaslight and also The Shining were very much on my mind when I wrote the script. I’ve actually never seen Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore! I’ll have to add it to my list. Barbarian is another horror film I absolutely love and although it’s not as direct a comparison I still think it’s an incredible example of using horror to make a really profound social commentary that’s not always as accessible in traditional drama.
WB: What were you looking for when it came to the John character? I was so struck by Charlie McElveen’s dual performance. I’m curious, what made him stand apart?
SY: I was looking for an actor that could very quickly (again the problem with it being a short film) show us all aspects of John; the loving husband worth fighting to keep, the abuser, and the possible victim of the demon itself. Charlie is naturally charming and charismatic, which makes it all the more frightening when he turns cruel and violent. He’s got a wonderful big creepy smile in his actor toolbox as well which is a big help. And he’s a wonderful person and extremely caring to his scene partners, which was important to me in casting. It takes trust to do intense scenes of physical and emotional abuse.
WB: It might be a less-direct dual performance given, but Michelle similarly has to play two roles in this story, that of a terrified wife who no longer recognizes her husband and that of someone who has to put on a brave face just to get through interactions with people who don’t believe her. How did you and Tori Ernst craft that balance, if you will? The story may be a work of fiction, but its ideas are certainly entrenched in horrifying, familiar truths.
SY: Absolutely. That’s the truly insidious thing about domestic violence, it’s happening behind closed doors. The abuser is pulling every trick in the book to keep their victims quiet, to make them feel isolated and incapable of leaving or getting help. So many folks have experienced that double life, the need to keep up the appearance of normality while their world is falling apart at home. The need to lie to everyone around them, constantly. Tori Ernst as Michelle gives an incredible and nuanced performance that captures that struggle perfectly. She and I spoke about the character at length as I was writing the script. It was important to us to capture as many aspects of domestic abuse as possible in this short story, that dual life, the experience of being gaslighted, having a loved one threaten self harm if you leave. Her fantastic performance and insight as the character was written were invaluable.
WB: I know you’re planning on expanding the short into a feature. What more do you hope to explore with a feature version that perhaps isn’t broached in the short?
SY: A feature gives us an opportunity to expand on the world we’ve built. I think the world is very ready for a domestic violence horror film and the success of the short shows that. The short is about Michelle discovering the truth about her husband and turning to her best friend Kim for help. It ends with Michelle convincing John to let them go for the night but promising he will “see her tomorrow”. Then Kim and Michelle open the door to leave but we cut before we see them walk through it. In the feature I want to go further into Kim and Michelle’s relationship, it’s so important to me to highlight the experience of Michelle, but also to expand on the effects on those close to her, in this case her best friend Kim. It’s a Hitchcockian journey for Kim to learn the truth about John, and it becomes a fight for both women to try and get Michelle away from him. And we’ll get to learn what happens when Kim and Michelle attempt to walk out that door.
