By RACHEL MEGHAN
Starring Rushabh Patel, Stephanie Gomes Hogan and Bobby Liga
Written by Mike Corey
Directed by Alexandra Speith
MPX
Ah, the life of a writer. To be holed away in some motel far away from all your responsibilities, writing what is sure to be your magnum opus. It really would be a shame if the remote motel you were staying in was haunted, your agent was berating you at all hours of the day, and your characters were coming to life. That is precisely what happens in I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE, a new indie horror film directed by Alexandra Speith and written by Mike Corey.
The movie stars Rushabh Patel as Rian Burman, a hack horror writer who checks into a seedy motel to finish his new novel about a woman who is relentlessly stalked by her mailman. Recovering from a break-up, Rian spirals into self-destruction while he fields calls from his disappointed agent. Soon, he discovers that the motel brings his writing to life. And his protagonist, Katie (Stephanie Gomes Hogan), is the girl in the room next door. What follows is a nightmarish dive into the macabre, where gore is abundant, and writer’s block is deadly.
The house of horrors in the movie is more than what meets the eye. It’s motel hell. Every room contains a different creepy man trying to take from the women in the story what they want with no regard for their humanity. When Rian isn’t double-fisting shots or calling his agent a bitch, he’s drunk, phoning his ex in a vaguely threatening tone. He stalks women to their rooms, sleeps with his protagonist, and generally doesn’t care about the feelings of any of the women around him. All the while, he paints himself as the hero of the story.
Katie, on the other hand, is an addiction counselor who is repeatedly stalked and taken advantage of by the men she encounters. Hogan brings a gritty realism to the movie, making it a human story under a veneer of fun, indie horror schlock. There are great performances all around. Bobby Liga, Hogan’s real-life husband, is a chilling and convincing villain, and their chemistry can be felt even in the most brutal scenes. Rawya El Chab as motel owner Naja gives a grounding performance. She’s an impeccable straight man and wise person in contrast with the insanity around her. All of the actors do a great job with the material, never overdoing it and letting the story’s message speak for itself.
Overall, I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE is about men who think they deserve the attention of women, no matter the cost. It doesn’t matter if you see yourself as the hero or the villain; it’s about centering the women who are in pain and actually listening to them. It has a brutal and cathartic end, full of gruesome imagery, that allows the female protagonist to finally take ownership of her destiny – all while presenting a chilling satire on the ethics of autofiction and the rise of the meta in the literary space.
I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE debuts on DVD, Digital HD, including Prime Video, and Fandango at Home, on April 7.
