by Victoria Potenza, Staff Writer

I truly believe that right now, is one of the best times to be a horror fan. Not only are there a variety of films that play on different traditional horror tropes, there are also a variety of voices from all over the world who are giving us new perspectives on what horror is to them. As the horror industry becomes more diverse we also get a variety of narratives from marginalized groups. As a woman in horror, I love finding new women in horror. I especially love when they play with Barbara Creed’s monstrous feminine archetype. This is why I found Sissy to be a compelling, unique, and bubbly movie in the genre.

Sissy is a story about Cecilia (Aisha Dee) a wellness influencer whose mass following has brought her plenty of recognition and a huge following. Sissy is ripped out of her perfectly manicured influencer life after a chance encounter with her childhood best friend Emma (Hannah Barlow). While this encounter initially makes Cecilia cautious, the two of them pick up right where they left off and Emma invites Cecelia to a hen’s weekend to celebrate her upcoming nuptials. Cecilia realizes too late that another figure from her childhood, Alex (Emily De Margheriti) will be in attendance, triggering Cecilia’s deep seeded childhood trauma and sets off a bloody chain of events.

I was lucky enough to talk to Emily De Margheriti, who plays Alex, the antagonist to Cecilia in the film. Emily is an actress and producer who splits her time between LA and Australia. She is a founder and director of DEMS entertainment and she has had roles in I Hate Kids, Chaos, and Theatre of the Dead.

Unfortunately due to time zone conflicts I was not able to set up a Zoom call with Emily but she was kind enough to email responses to my questions. Fortunately for me, Emily was not as intimidating as her character Alex, she provided kind and thoughtful answers that gave me plenty of insight into the themes and influences for the film. I am thrilled to know women like her are contributing their creative energy to the horror genre.

MovieJawn: What got you excited about making a movie like SISSY?

Emily De Margheriti: I think what resonated with me was the relevance of the main concepts to the world today. Social media is heavily integrated into our daily lives and sometimes it feels quite at the forefront, specifically for millennials. It’s exciting when there is a very realistic depiction of someone living in their own perception of their reality but not living in actual reality, and almost frozen in time in their own reality if you will. The nostalgia of a time capsule, best friend necklaces, glitter and dances being made up really takes me back to childhood and what that was like. I also just love the true representation of a group of friends on screen and this is exactly that.

The correlations between social media use and its connections to mental health is quite scary. In Sissy we go to the extreme negative version of this, a modern day take of a psychopath, perhaps a fallen victim to the hands of an extreme case of social media addiction. I think being a mental health advocate, the effects of young people becoming victims of social media and its expectations is something I also want to discuss and by going to this extreme of the negative aspects of social media it offers the question - is social media healthy? Why not explore toxic influencer culture while we are at it, in the format of a satirical horror.

It’s very much, Ingrid Goes West meets Kill Bill.

MJ: In the film Alex is portrayed as an antagonist. She is a bully, but she is also a victim who is still coping with her own trauma. How do you approach a complex character like that?

EDM: One must always start with the script. I read it many times to understand the character. I look at what is said about Alex, what I say about others and what I say about myself. Then go inwards. It’s important not to judge your character. Not to make a generalization, bullies have a story too and have a reason for how they are, in the world. I just found that she won’t tolerate people who don’t take accountability or speak the truth. She speaks her truth loud. I think understanding that she is also a victim enables me to understand her perspective, she has boundaries and I commend that. I can’t say that any of the other characters have boundaries. I empathize with her, and I was able to get my teeth into the role. Although we may walk different lives, acting is at the core the act of empathy. I could understand and empathize with her. I was her backbone.

MJ: What is your relationship to the character? Do you find aspects of Alex relatable or was it a challenge to find your way into a character like this?

EDM: At first, I was like, “Noooo I have to be mean?!” Ha. In all honesty it was fun exploring what it was to be Alex. I found Alex to be quite different from me in a lot of ways and contrary to that I also had some similarities. It was challenging holding that hurt and pain that she felt. That surprised me when filming. There’s always an “in” with a character. I think understanding her pain and trauma I could find my “in”.

I can relate to the use of social media and how much anxiety it can create when comparing yourself to the perfect and edited versions of Instagram users highlights. Instagram is tough and exhausting to navigate because you're ultimately comparing yourself to something that’s not necessarily reality.

MJ: Did you have any influences you drew upon when bringing this character to life?

EDM: When bringing Alex to life I was influenced by women who were in this “mean girl trope”, ones that stuck out were Rose Burns in Bridesmaids, Rachael McAdams in Mean Girls and even watching films like Single white female, Carrie and Muriel’s wedding. I also had many influences around me, of people who use social media and watched how they use it. I have some friends who have made their family from their group of friends, and that loyalty is evident in Alex.

MJ: I enjoyed how much SISSY plays with and breaks traditional horror tropes. What are some elements of this film that you feel like really stand out, compared to other films in the genre?

EDM: There are still some of the traditional old tropes, which make horror films fun to watch. More than any other subgenre of horror, slashers are most representative of the time in which this film was made. However, it does riff on the Cabin in the Woods type of horror which isn’t always slashers!!

It really does pull from Carrie, that’s one of the biggest “girl gets revenge on her bullies” horror of all time (Brain de Palma’s original, not the remake.) It certainly delves into the friendship triangle in Bridesmaids, that’s also there in Muriel’s Wedding.

The final girl that survives till the end is certainly one trope this film subverts in its own way. That to me is one that really stands out.

MJ: What were some of your favorite aspects of making this film?

EDM: I enjoyed the whole process of the film! (however it’s a little masochistic for me to say, since it was quite painful to be Alex at times.) Without giving any spoilers I would have to say crawling around in a bathing suit and being buried alive. Ha. In all honesty though the crew were so supportive, making sure I was OK every step of the way. I do love a particular moment where Kane Senes, one of the directors, was asking “are you sure??” as he was adjusting dirt on my face and I said “JUST DO IT, we must do it for the shot!” as I then immediately had dirt shoved onto my face. I got down and dirty.

Some favourite aspects were certainly seeing the prosthetics come to life, meeting the most incredible cast and crew, and getting to see the Canberra Film Industry blossom.

MJ: I found the relationship between Sissy and Alex to be very compelling, how did you bring weight to this relationship while maintaining the overall campy tone?

EDM: Wow, that’s very kind of you. I’m glad Alex and Cecilia resonated with you. Both Aisha Dee and I did our work on our characters and grounded them in truth.

I think that the tone is maintained by the directors having a clear vision and It’s a combination of all the creatives coming together that creates this tone. The directors, cinematographer and editor really were given permission to be creative and have fun with the film, and with that freedom they were able to capture that vision. In addition to that, the wackiness of the film really was left up to the editor and prosthetics to take it to the next level.

MJ: There are a lot of themes in the film that I found very relatable, especially with childhood trauma, mental health, and the effects of social media. What themes of the film did you latch onto when making it?

EDM: As I mentioned earlier, I find childhood trauma, complicated female friendships, mental health and social media some of the key themes that struck me.

Touching upon those themes, I think that there are some things in childhood we never truly recover from or at least things that we take with us into adulthood.

Female friendships are complicated, and perspectives and views are never one sided.

The use of social media has a connection to the detriment to mental health and I suppose that resonated with me. More than half the world uses it, so it’s really intertwined into our culture.

MJ: As a horror fan I am excited about how many women are working in the genre now. Who are some women in horror you are excited about or inspired by?

EDM: It was amazing having so many women on set working in all departments on sissy, so I was very much inspired by them. I’m inspired by horror icons such as Toni Collette (Hereditary 2018, The sixth Sense 1999), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween 2018), Jodie Foster (Silence of the lambs 1991), Lupita Nyong’o (Us 2019). I also love a scary horror villain, Sue Ann (Ma 2019) and Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct 1992). Women are KILLIN’ it!

Sissy has premiered at SXSW and Overlook film festival. Be on the lookout for further distribution of the film and make sure to keep an eye out on more of Emily’s work. I look forward to seeing what comes up for her both in front of and behind the camera