Mary Beth McAndrews is determined to make art that wakes people up.
“There’s always been strong women in horror, incredible female characters,” she says. “I think what’s shifting in the horror of the last decade is more and more women are being given budgets by people to make movies that are much more of a sledgehammer, rather than a delicate little way to needle it, subtextually talk about women’s issues. Now we’re coming in with sledgehammers and saying, ‘It’s time, you’ve got to listen. We’re going to shove glass in your eyes and say no more male gaze.’”
McAndrews is smashing onto the scene with her directorial debut “Bystanders,” now available on VOD via Dread. The film is about Abby (Brandi Botkin), a young woman who visits a frat party with her friends, who are drugged, raped and chased by men. Yet Abby meets a couple (Jamie Alvey & Garrett Murphy) who are willing to help her fight back against her captors.
The rape revenge horror subgenre has always had a fascination for McAndrews, who is the editor-in-chief of the genre news site Dread Central.
“I’ve written about this a lot before, but I am a sexual assault survivor,” she says. “I’ve been raped several times, which is rough to talk about, but also like I think it’s an important perspective. Rape revenge movies are so interesting in how they try to handle the topic. At first, I was drawn to movies like ‘I Spit on Your Grave,’ ‘Ms .45’ … they’re all very male-dominated, and there are really interesting things going on there in terms of catharsis, but I also was always concerned about the exploitation part of it, this was more about spectacle. And then I saw ‘Revenge,’ Coralie Fargeat’s movie, and that’s when my mind and life changed. I realized that ‘Oh, sexual assault and media can be portrayed in many different ways, and in ways that are still important and in the genre, but also not going that exploitative route.’ I think that was when I realized that women and people who have experienced these things have a much more interesting perspective when it comes to the portrayal of sexual assault. I’m of the camp that we can’t shy away from these things on camera.”
Director Mary Beth McAndrews on the set of “Bystanders.”
“Bystanders” was written by Alvey, who had been working on and revising the script for about eight years. McAndrews, who wrote her master’s thesis on rape revenge films, quickly understood Alvey’s fresh vision.
“The genre has always been such like a big interest of mine from an academic perspective,” McAndrews says. “I read her script and thought, ‘This is amazing. We need more movies like this.’ I love the imagery of someone in a bridesmaid dress hunting down frat boys.”
From there, she flagged the script to Dread Central and urged them to make the film via their DREAD distribution label. The indie banner has been developing low-budget horror titles since 2017, such as “The Golem,” “The Lodgers” and “Director’s Cut.” Once McAndrews showed them her vision, the DREAD team asked her if she wanted to helm the film, and once she signed on, respected her take on the material.
“Jamie and I agreed that with this movie, we would not show any assaults,” she says. “We want the aftermath to get you into the headspace of the characters, but we do not want to show any explicit violence against the young girls in this. It’s obviously implied, and that was the line we had to figure out. How do we sell how dangerous these boys are, without making the assaults of these teenagers into a spectacle that just becomes another ‘girls getting tortured’ movie? Horror is so often about the horror of watching the female body be ripped apart, exploited, cut, murdered. So what happens when it’s just boys that that happens to? That was the thought process and guiding ethos in terms of our violence and where the spectacle comes in within the film.”
The visceral storytelling in “Bystanders” caused a variety of reactions when it screened at different festivals, and McAndrews noted the interesting gender divide between the reactions it evoked.
“In person, everyone’s very supportive,” she says. “But then you go on Letterboxd, which I shouldn’t be reading reviews, but I’m always curious. I see a lot from female viewers with 5 stars, 4 stars: ‘I love what this is doing, I love that we’re talking about this.’ Then I’ll see what looks like a male viewer, or a male-presenting viewer, picking apart some of the more indie aspects of this movie. I’m not going to begrudge you for that. We are a low-budget movie. I’m not perfect. It’s just interesting to see who focuses on the themes and then who focuses on the technical execution. You’re going to look at what you look at, but it’s just been very interesting to see that gender divide.”
Additionally, some men have squirmed even hearing about the concept of the film.
“There’s been a lot of really interesting reactions from men when I say it’s a rape revenge movie, and they say, ‘Oh, I don’t like those movies’ immediately,” McAndrews says. “A lot of times, it feels like they’re trying to say, ‘I’m not like that. They’re so hard for me to watch.’ I want to ask, ‘Why? Why is it difficult for you to watch?’ People do squirm a little when you ask that. I don’t mean to make people uncomfortable, but it’s like, ‘How do you think it feels for women to watch, or a survivor to go through that?’ Again, I think it’s all very well-meaning, but it is very funny to see reactions of men trying to be like, ‘Oh, I’m not a bad guy. I don’t like watching those movies. I don’t like watching women get raped.’ I didn’t think that about you at all, but OK.”
Ultimately, McAndrews says “Bystanders” is a culmination of everything she is as an artist, academic and fan of the genre.
“To be a director and feel like I’m standing up next to the women who have unknowingly encouraged me is absolutely beautiful,” she says. “Also being able to address a lot of things … I think this brought up a lot of unhealed things in a way that I think was helpful. We love therapy, therapists are great, but I think this also helped me get some closure about some things. My goal going into this movie was to make something that could make someone feel represented, seen and supported. I’ve already heard that from some people, so goal already accomplished. But I’m even more excited for more people to see this, especially a younger audience, and see how they react to a movie like this.”
Watch the “Bystanders” trailer below.
