Detox

  • Director

    Alex Hanno

  • Country, Year, Length

    United States, 2023, 8:40

  • Category

    Narrative Short

  • Format

    Canon c500 Mark II

  • Festival Year

    2024

Film Screening & Ticket Information

When & Where to See this Film!

HORRIFYING: 6 films that…well, you have been warned.

April 20, 2024 @ 7:00PM • Kaufman Astoria Studios – Zukor Theatre

View the Trailer

Synopsis

While away on a technology detox in the northern reaches of Maine, an impressionable social media addict becomes the target of an unexpected visitor.

Credits

Alex Hanno, Director, Elephants, Bonus Time, Served
Wes Hopper, Writer, Month to Month
Wes Hopper, Producer, Month to Month
Alex Hanno, Producer, Elephants, Bonus Time, Served
Caitlin Morris, Key Cast, “Shelly”, The Blacklist, Sublets
Katherine Castro, Cinematographer, Let The Right One In, Kevin Can F**K Himself
Taylor Corriell, 1st AD, City On A Hill, You’re The Pest
Bill Prokopow, Composer, The Muppets Mayhem, The Kissing Booth 2

Director Statement

I think most people would agree that the past three years have been pretty… terrifying. The pandemic was awful in a thousand different ways, but as we’ve rounded the corner on the worst of it, one facet of it all has stuck with me. While locked inside our homes, we constantly found ourselves staring at our computers, our TVs, and our phones – sometimes, all three at the same time. A lack of human interaction led to a poor facsimile of the communal experience, with LED screens and “likes” serving as shameful middle men. We became chained to our devices (if we weren’t already), so much so that a digital “self-help” cottage industry arose centered on aiding people in “disconnecting” from their digital dependency. To me, the idea that humans – who have lived without cellphones and tablets and social media for thousands of years – need help taking a break from technology, sounds more like a dystopian nightmare than a reality. Yet, after sharing my insights with writer/producer Wes Hopper, who happens to own an Air BNB and has actually hosted folks striving to escape from their own Instagrams, he confirmed that this is indeed the world we now live in. So naturally, we decided that it only felt right to hang a lantern on the absurdity of it all through the lens of a horror film. By building a setup traditional of the genre – one lone woman heading off to a remote house for a long weekend – and playing with expectations of who that person is and what they find when they arrive, Detox was born, as was a biting satirical take on digital culture and all that comes with it.

Director Biography

Alex Hanno is the writer/director behind the apocalyptic thriller A Social Contract starring Sean Astin, the romantic dramedy Elephants streaming on Amazon, and the award winning TV show Served. His pilot script, Seabrook, was the winner of CineStory’s TV Fellowship (Drama Division), while his other scripts have placed in competitions such as Final Draft’s Big Break, Scriptapalooza, Austin Film Festival, and many more. As a director, his films – including his latest, Bonus Time – have screened at the likes of Sunscreen Film Festival, Idyllwild Festival of Cinema, and the DTLA Film Festival. Alex has also worked in development for Broad Green Pictures and VMI Worldwide, alongside co-managing Deadline Junkies, a screenwriting organization based in LA.