Addison Heimann and Barbarella discuss mental health, casting and the HYPOCHONDRIAC

Hi guys, this is Barbarella. Addison Heimann has a new horror movie called HYPOCHONDRIAC that examines mental health through a dark, comedic lens. The independent film, which hits theaters July 29 and on-demand and digital August 4, 2022, boasts a cast that includes Paget Brewster (“Criminal Minds”), Madeline Zima (“Californication”), Peter Mensah (“ Spartacus: Blood and Sand"), Devon Graye (I See You) and Zach Villa ("American Horror Story"). I had the opportunity to speak with Addison about the film, and after feeling sorry for trying to determine whether the symptoms are COVID or allergies, we discussed the movie based on an experience he had a few years ago. Check it out!

HYPOCHONDRIAC opens with the claim that it is based on a real breakdown. Am I to assume that you, the writer, had a breakdown at some point?

"Me the writer, me the director, me the idiot, I had a nervous breakdown. Yes, that was about three and a half years ago. The shortest version is, basically that i lost full function of my arms after a work injury i couldn't text, i couldn't shave, i couldn't eat with a fork, and Dr. Google was telling me that I was dying of ALS, which I really thought I was. Then my mom, who is bipolar, would leave me voicemails, telling me not to trust my friends, so the confluence of events blew me away, and so, HYPOCHONDRIAC was born. I wrote a version of a draft and people were like, "Addison, this isn't interesting. I'm like, 'So you hate me?' And they say, "Well, of course, yes. But also, just because it happened doesn't make it interesting." And I was like, "I hate everyone for telling me that."

"Turns out sitting on a couch for six months waiting for your arms to heal while watching Scandinavian crime dramas on Netflix isn't that visually appealing, so I had to make up a story. In the end, I'm very grateful, because what I ended up settling on was more of an emotional account of what it was like to crack, compared to the actual series of events . But yeah, ultimately that's what it's based on. And then I added some extra styling stuff."

I think I may have also watched some of those Scandinavian dramas, mystery novels and stuff. They are fun.

“Yeah. they are so much fun.”

I find that more often these days movies and TV are about mental health. What do you think is the reason to discuss this further?

"Because we as millennials have now realized that this is the only way to move on. It's like every generation talks about it a little bit more. We're all like, 'Oh no, we're damn." And then the younger generation is like, "So are we." And the older generation is like, "You know what? So do we." And we're like, "Oh, no." But ultimately, I don't want to say, "The pandemic did it," but I feel like that was the first thing where neuro-divergent and neurotypical people would come together and be like, "Oh, we all know what it's like to be alone. We all know what it's like to suffer in silence now. And so now we are able to unlock this level for ourselves I guess.

“But also, I think it happens a lot in genre too, because I think genre is the best way not to preach anything and to get people to unlock their inner struggles without necessarily be too prescriptive. When we come to including that specifically in horror, you're just like, 'Oh, crap. I've fixed that." You don't necessarily get chased by a monster. It's more of a tangential metaphor than a hammer to the head, so to speak. In a way, it allows you to unlock something deeper."

I found a lot of su...