Finn Wolfhard reveals he and Billy Bryk came up with Hell of a Summer to break “Gen Z stereotypes”

Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk are ready to screen their new horror-comedy Hell of a Summer at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2023. The pair have already made themselves the defining names of the generation. Still, even they could not escape the feeling that films, especially horror films, are confined to “Gen Z stereotypes,” which have been extensively used in Hollywood.

Hell of a Summer will effectively shatter many stereotypes that have become increasingly common in the horror genre. Moreover, it will also feature the two filmmakers in the leading roles, making it much closer to the creative center.

Speaking about the film, Wolfhard said:

“Our number one conversation was how annoying it is to see new teen movies and how badly our age group is represented,...And we’re like, ‘Why don’t we just do it?’”

Finn Wilfhand and Bill Bryk, who have previously collaborated twice in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and When You Finish Saving the World, also claimed that this film was a testament to their friendship. Bryk said:

“It feels like this film is a visual representation of our friendship in so many ways,... I’d written this scene for this idea of a character who published a kill list at a sleepaway camp,”

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Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk took inspiration from Shaun of the Dead for Hell of a Summer

While talking with Variety, Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk agreed that their primary inspiration for Hell of a Summer lay with Edgar Wright. His horror masterpiece Shaun of the Dead effectively established a separate identity from all previous horror films.

Bryk said:

“To us, that was kind of the epitome of a film that does homage to classic horror films while also being a really great character-driven comedy,”

Finn Wolfhard added:

“Specifically in ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ Shaun’s just trying to get his girlfriend back. He actually doesn’t care about the zombie apocalypse, like at all.”

Bryk concluded:

“So I would say that this is a movie where people are given full license to be weird and narcissistic in the face of death,...I think that [Gen Z is] so often written and represented by people not of the generation,...We both [have] read a million scripts where it’s like you’re reading what somebody else thinks a young person speaks or acts like, and I think that often can be very two-dimensional or cliche.”

They concluded by speaking about Hell of Summer and hinting that they may also return for future projects. Billy Bryk emphasized that he and Finn Wolfhard have the same taste in movies and would effectively work together again to bring out the best of their imaginations.

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Hell of a Summer is scheduled to premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2023.