Film Name: Sheryl
Director: Justin Best
Writer: Justin Best
Starring: Shaan Sharma, Al Thompson, Anthea Neri Best, Elise Robertson, Joseph Ruud
After she’s dumped by her serial killer boyfriend, a looks-obsessed woman goes on a bloody quest to
create the perfect face.
In a new Exclusive interview on Blazing Minds ahead of the Romford Film Festival I got a chance to ask Writer-Director Justin Best a few questions about his film Sheryl.
SHERYL will be playing at Romford Horror Festival on screen 1 at 2pm on Thursday, February 27th ,
2025.
Q. Your film Sheryl has been selected to play at the Romford Horror Film Festival. Can you tell us
what we can expect from your film?
A. I know it’s a big commitment for anyone to give up their time to watch an indie horror film, so I’m very grateful to anyone who takes the time to watch our film. I like to say that SHERYL is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. If you come to a SHERYL screening, you should expect a fun, sexy, dangerous movie with witty and complex characters. At only 72 minutes, it’s a thrill ride – the kind that, when you get off, you want to get back in line and ride again.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script?
A. What really kicked off the writing of SHERYL was a film called The Big Shave by Martin Scorsese, the short film he made at NYU where a guy is basically shaving his face over and over again in the bathroom until the room is just covered with blood. Very simple and very gross and very impactful. So I got really inspired and I thought, “I could do that!” (Afterall, what else has this Scorsese guy ever done, right?). So I started to think about how I could update that, and the idea I landed on was a woman who chops off people’s faces and wears them. From there the idea of SHERYL evolved.
Certainly other independent writer/directors were also influential. People like Robert Rodriguez,
Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino are big influences, not just in their writing and storytelling style,
but also in their belief in themselves and there “I can do this” attitude.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. I spent a lot of time discussing the look and style of the film with our DP, Carlos Rosas. I expressed to him that I wanted a style reminiscent of neo-noir films and certain giallo films. We wanted to play with shadows and light, but also certain colours. Some films that we often referenced included Taxi Driver, Joker, No Country for Old Men and Nightcrawler, among many others. Carlos and his team were really wizards in being able to bring such a beautiful, high-quality, cinematic look and feel to our film. They did a wonderful job.
Also, our costume designer, Stephanie Nguyen really contributed so much to the style of our film. With her talents and ability, we were able to use the clothing of Sheryl and the other characters to really elevate our film and take our storytelling to another level. Sheryl’s clothes really reflect her mindset throughout the film. To get ready for this, we discussed several influences, everything from films and TV shows like American Psycho and Lovecraft Country to style trends on Tik-Tok. Again, Steph really contributed so much to help us raise the bar on our film. She was vital to the production.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. The script evolved constantly from its first draft through filming and finally through the edit. One of the biggest changes we found in filming was the character of Sheryl herself. In the script, we called her “Sterile Sheryl” – she was very cold and meticulous. Everything was neat and orderly and perfect. During filming, however, we found that, not only was there very challenging from a production standpoint to have every room spotless and all of her makeup perfectly organized, but our lead actor, Anthea Neri-Best, also started to play her as more of an “everywoman” type of character. In the film, Anthea plays her really as an average woman who is trying to do her best in every aspect of her life. She’s trying to be the perfect girlfriend and the perfect friend and the perfect employee, and she also happens to be a serial killer. I think this change was really for the better, as it allowed more people to relate to her (minus the killing part).
This change really helped us to add a lot of empathy to Sheryl as a character and hopefully spark some conversation at the end of the film.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. There were so many favourite moments during filming, but the most memorable to me was after we wrapped on our 14th day of shooting because our cast and crew had changed from a bunch of people making a movie called SHERYL to a SHERYL team. The people on this team had their choice of things to work on, but they chose to be a part of SHERYL because they believed in themselves and they believed in the project. To think that all of these people would give their time and contribute their talents to making my weird idea come to life just really touched my heart. Many of them had started out as strangers, and many of them became friends.
I had people come up to me and tell me that this is the best set they’d ever been on. They told me that they couldn’t wait to do the next. This meant so much to me because this was my first feature film. There was so much I didn’t know, but I tried to communicate clearly what I wanted, and I tried to always treat people with respect, both for their craft and just as human beings. So, wrapping production, seeing that these people had kept showing up for 14 days and they always did their best to make whatever crazy idea I had come to life, that was really memorable for me.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. We experienced much of the same issues as any other low-budget indie film (funding, scheduling, etc.), but probably the biggest challenge was getting people to believe it was possible. A lot of people told us this film was unmakeable, but here it is. We’ve won 17 awards so far, played at several festivals, people have gotten SHERYL tattoos already, and we’ve done it all with the cast and crew who chose themselves and came together to make this badass movie. I’m extremely proud of our team.
A lot of people are waiting for a big studio to choose them, but the people on this team all chose themselves and believe in themselves. It took us some time, but, in the end, we found the right people.
Q. What makes it stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. There are several things that make our film stand out from others in the horror genre. First, we include a lot of comedy and romance in the film in a way that’s not often seen in the horror genre, and this has seemed to resonate really well with our audiences. It only helps to further accentuate the horror in our film.
Another unique thing about our film is that we have a Filipino woman playing the role of our slasher/anti-hero. It’s rare to have an Asian woman playing such a role in western cinema; women in slasher films seem to be usually either fodder for the killer or the strong final girl. Have we ever seen a woman act with such force equal to her male counterparts? Why can’t an Asian woman behave as badly as the boys? In fact, Anthea Neri-Best (our lead actor who plays Sheryl) told me that she was really excited to play this part because it was something unique for her.
Also, I’d say the depth of our characters is different from many other films. We are fortunate enough to have an extremely talented cast who really brought so much dimension to every role that they play. From Sheryl to Ted to our detectives and even our ride share driver – all of these characters come together to create a fully developed world.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. Most of all, I hope people have fun watching SHERYL. I hope they laugh a lot and find some scares along the way. I also hope that, in watching the film, people may take some time for conversation and self-reflection as to, not only how you think about yourself and others, but why do you think that way. Ultimately, I hope that people will remember that they are worthy of being loved just as they are.
Of course, if you just want to watch a badass woman chop up bad people, you can do that too.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. We recently turned SHERYL into a short zine. It’s a little comic book that explores a story outside of the movie, and we have created the first issue of a full-fledged comic book series to just further explore Sheryl’s world. That will hopefully be out soon.
I’m also finishing up a new script. It’s another dark-comedy/horror film about two friends who fight a group of young, female vampires. It’s sort of MEAN GIRLS meets LOST BOYS. We’re finishing up the script and currently talking to different financiers and hope to get started on that one in the relatively near future.
No matter what I create, I think it will always be genre stuff with some quirkiness, some laughs, and a lot of heart.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. My advice would be to just get started and do the best you have with the resources you have available. The time will never be perfect, and there will always be reasons why you shouldn’t or can’t start, but just put the wheels in motion. Once you get started, it has been my experience that people will want to join you and want to help you out. There’s a big difference between “I am making a movie” and “I am thinking about making a movie.” Just get started. You will make mistakes, but just keep learning and growing, and I believe you can make something great.
LINKS & SOCIAL MEDIA
WEBSITE: www.sherylthemovie.com
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/SherylTheMovie
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt13117642
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/sherylthemovie
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/sherylthemovie
TIK TOK: www.tiktok.com/@sherylthemovie
LETTERBOXD: https://letterboxd.com/film/sheryl-2023/
SHERYL will be playing at Romford Horror Festival on screen 1 at 2pm on Thursday, February 27th ,
2025.
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
