Shudder has officially acquired Find Your Friends, the feature debut from writer and director Izabel Pakzad. The tense, emotionally charged thriller is set to hit the horror streaming platform this Summer.
LA Influencers vs. Desert Dread
The film follows Amber and her four best friends as they flee the chaos of Los Angeles for a much-needed girls’ trip to the beautiful desert of Joshua Tree. Unfortunately for them, they find themselves highly unwelcome in a local town simmering with barely concealed hostility.
As their encounters with the locals grow increasingly threatening, buried resentments within the friend group start to boil over. Naturally, their peaceful vacation spirals into a violent, claustrophobic struggle for control and survival.
The Stars
If you need a reason to tune in, the sheer talent and the terrifying real-life inspiration behind it should do the trick. The film boasts a fantastic ensemble of genre favorites and rising stars, including Bella Thorne (Divinity), Chloe Cherry (Euphoria), Helena Howard (Madeline’s Madeline), Sophia Ali (Uncharted), and Zion Moreno (Gossip Girl).
The Terrifying True Story
In a conversation with Variety, Pakzad revealed that the script was born out of pure, unadulterated terror. While on a similar getaway to Joshua Tree with her own friends, a driver blocked their car at the end of a dead-end street.
Pakzad, on instinct, gunned it over a neighbor’s lawn to escape, which triggered a 100 mph car chase down the Joshua Tree freeway. The aggressor repeatedly tried to ram them off the road while the girls had zero cell service to call for help. They finally managed to lose him when they spotted another car in the distance and started frantically honking for help. Pakzad called it “the most terrifying seven minutes of my life.”
What the Creators Are Saying
Director Izabel Pakzad states, “Shudder champions work that refuses to play by the rules and challenges everything we think young women should be in genre films. My hope was to make a film that audiences find to be raw, unapologetic, and bold.”
According to Emily Gotto (SVP at Shudder), “Audiences should prepare for an intense, emotionally charged experience that rethinks the trope of the final girl.”
Get ready for a heart-pounding fight for survival when Find Your Friends premieres on Shudder on June 12. Watch the first clip below.
