CANNES, France (AP) 鈥� 鈥淎 good electric chair鈥� is how describes their first premiere.
鈥淚 really felt like my body was in a state of convulsion,鈥� says Schoenbrun.
The day after the premiere of 鈥淭eenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,鈥� a bold, bloody queer slasher film starring and , Schoenbrun and their co-stars were still buzzing from the ecstatic response. The movie, one of the most prominent American films in Cannes this year, gave the festival a gonzo jolt.
For Schoenbrun, the leading trans filmmaker of their generation, the film extends their intensely personal exploration of gender and the movies that defined their youth. But their first two films 鈥� 2024鈥檚 鈥淚 Saw the TV Glow鈥� and 2021鈥檚 鈥淲e鈥檙e All Going to the World鈥檚 Fair鈥� 鈥� were the raw, burning products of Schoenbrun鈥檚 transition. drawn from Schoenbrun鈥檚 happy, exploratory post-transition life, isn鈥檛 that.
It鈥檚 about desire and sex. It鈥檚 a biting satire of reboot-mad Hollywood. It鈥檚 a schlocky and subversive slasher movie homage. It鈥檚 a lot of fun, and quite tender, even when bodies are blood-spurting geysers.
鈥淭his is the first movie that feels like it represents the fullness of who I am,鈥� Schoenbrun says.
But Wednesday’s moment of triumph in Cannes was hard-won. Ten years ago, Schoenbrun, now 39, was working in the film industry in a job they hated.
鈥淭he first time I came here, I just felt like, 鈥極h my, god. I can鈥檛 believe I鈥檓 in Cannes.鈥� I went to, like, 鈥楾he Lobster,鈥� at the Palais in my boy tux. I was like: 鈥楾his is it. I鈥檝e done it,鈥欌�� says Schoenbrun. 鈥淭hen the next year I came back and I was so depressed. I decided to quit my job. If I鈥檓 depressed at Cannes, there鈥檚 something that needs to change. I know I want to be here but I need a better reason to be here.鈥�
They pause and then smile. 鈥淚 just can鈥檛 believe that it ended up working out.鈥�
Einbinder (鈥淗acks鈥�) plays Kris, an indie filmmaker hired to direct a reboot of 鈥淐amp Miasma,鈥� a decades-spanning slasher series. Studio executives are looking for a fresh origin story. For Kris, it鈥檚 a dream job. Since seeing the first movie on VHS as an 8-year-old, she鈥檚 been obsessed with the movies.
While visiting the iconic camp of the film, she encounters Billy Presley (Anderson), the Final Girl from the first movie. Their unfolding relationship opens up both inspiration for the movie Kris (but not executives) wants to make, as well as her own sexual anxieties.
鈥淚 wanted to be part of a thing that I thought would be important to exist in the world,鈥� says Anderson. 鈥淭his film is really important and I think it鈥檚 going to rectify a lot of things.鈥�
The film industry satire of 鈥淭eenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma鈥� has some real-world echoes. Even though 鈥淭V Glow,鈥� released by A24, was an indie event, Schoenbrun鈥檚 third film was turned down everywhere but Mubi,
鈥淚t was kind of shocking to me that it was just pass after pass after pass,鈥� Schoenbrun says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know, in the way you never know as a trans person. You鈥檙e like: 鈥楳aybe there鈥檚 something about my otherness that you鈥檙e not into.鈥� Hollywood can feel like a mafia. I think it was a f—ing shame.鈥�
For Schoenbrun, the kind of cultural assumptions about what鈥檚 mainstream can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
鈥淵our movie is not commercial because they think it鈥檚 not commercial,鈥� they say, citing the white men who dominate Hollywood executive ranks. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in such a bled-dry moment. You can really feel it with the s— that鈥檚 coming out.鈥�
Einbinder, starring in her first film, was drawn to the deeply felt nature of Schoenbrun鈥檚 work.
鈥淭here is fiction around it, but Jane is a personal filmmaker and these movies are allegorical to their experience in many ways,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat affected me.鈥�
Schoenbrun was determined to make it, regardless. 鈥淗ow much did they make the original 鈥楩riday the 13th鈥� for?鈥� they asked. Remaining resolute was the key, just as it was for Schoenbrun in writing a soon-to-be-released 600-page fantasy novel 鈥� just as it was in changing their fate in Cannes 10 years ago.
鈥淢y movies are obsessed with this idea of what it takes to make something real,鈥� says Schoenbrun. 鈥淚 have a tattoo to make sure I wrote my book that says 鈥楳ake it real.鈥� This is very much an ideology: We can remake ourselves and the world around us.鈥�
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