Zo? Chao Freaks Out in Nature for Pete Ohs’ Genre-Hybrid Folk Horror Indie ‘The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick’ — Watch Teaser
Pete Ohs is bringing the horrors of domesticity to the screen in his third collaboration with Jeremy O. Harris. Ohs, who previously edited Harris’ documentary “Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.” and is helming the upcoming indie “Erupcja” starring Harris and Charli XCX, directs and co-writes SXSW feature “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick.” This is the first film to be released by Harris’ new production company, bb2.
Zo? Chao leads “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick” as a grieving woman who spirals into paranoia after being (as the title teases) bitten by a tick while on vacation. Chao co-wrote the film with Ohs, Harris, and fellow actors Callie Hernandez and James Cusati-Moyer. Ohs, Hernandez (in her third collaboration with Ohs after by “OBEX” and “Jethica”), and Harris and Josh Godfrey of bb2 all produce as well.
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The official synopsis reads: “After a tragic event, Yvonne (Chao) drives down to her friend Camille’s (Hernandez) bucolic new home for some time away. She’s welcomed by Camille’s fast-talking real estate agent friend Isaac (Harris) and his ‘crunchy lifestyle’ enthusiast boyfriend A.J. (Cusati-Moyer). The group promises a weekend of homemade meals from fresh, local produce, and parlor games by candlelight as an attempt to unplug from the chaos-ridden city existence. But when Yvonne develops troubling symptoms from a tick bite, the rural paradise fades away revealing a breeding ground for a disturbing new life.”
The horror film was inspired by a trip to upstate New York, and captures the “millennial terror of modern adulthood,” as the logline teases.
“This cast came together in a deliciously organic way. There were no auditions, only conversations,” Ohs told IndieWire. “I got to know James’ talent through the editing of Jeremy’s documentary ‘Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.,’ and Zo? I’ve known casually for years and have always enjoyed these playful videos she makes with her sister and posts on Instagram. Both Callie and Jeremy were recent and favorite collaborators. This group’s onscreen chemistry is one of the many movie miracles we were gifted on this project. I feel lucky that they were all available and willing to get weird and make a movie about ticks.”
Harris specifically applauded how prolific Ohs is. “Working with Pete so intimately as an editor on my documentary, I was able to witness firsthand how his mind worked and wanted to go deeper. When the offer to work on another film as an actor, co-writer and producer emerged, it felt like the perfect opportunity,” Harris told IndieWire of joining the “True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick” cast. “As a lover of independent film, the chance to collaborate with a voice as dynamic and sure as his while also focusing more on process than product felt too unique to pass up. He’s prolific to an insane degree. In less than two years we’ve now collaborated on three films together. … He’s right at the beating heart of what being truly independent in cinema can mean.”
Chao added that filming the feature was like “returning to low stakes playing” on set. “We were given permission to be bad, to be wrong, to be big. There was something really pure about those two weeks together where we pledged to prioritize process over product and only use what was available to us. There wasn’t anything extraneous or unnecessary. No hierarchy, no excess,” she said. “Eat the groceries we bought, write the scenes, shoot the scenes, ask a lot of questions, try to answer those questions, smoke some cigarettes, sleep, do it again. I realized this experience with Pete and company was exactly what I needed, when I needed it.”
Cusati-Moyer and Hernandez agreed, with Cusati-Moyer saying that the feature “felt like playing again.” “Laughter is a good barometer when working with Pete, and that became the guiding force of making ‘The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick,'” Hernandez said. “Each collaboration with Pete is a completely new and exciting experience.”
This is Ohs’ first film to premiere at SXSW since his 2022 breakout micro-budget indie “Jethica.” “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick” premieres March 7 at SXSW as a sales title from CAA. Check out the teaser, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
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