‘Stranger Things’ star to lead Bret Easton Ellis’ directorial debut

Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn is set to star in a brand new horror thriller titled Relapse.

The movie will mark the directorial debut of author Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote American Psycho and Less Than Zero among other novels.

Quinn will play Matt Cullen, a young man whose sheltered life is altered when he witnesses a shocking death at a party. After time spent at rehab, Matt is seemingly back in a stable condition. However, haunts from his past resurface and his problems worsen.

The synopsis for the movie, as per Variety, reads: “Fuelled by his unstable personality and the invading power of social media, Matt’s paranoia grows, messing up with his rehabilitation program. As he starts using again, a mysterious presence starts growing around Matt, and a monster that has been haunting him since he was a teenager reveals itself. His therapist tries to help, convinced that the monster is actually in Matt’s head.”

Ellis told Variety that it’s only “appropriate” that his directorial debut for a feature film would be a horror. He said: “I grew up watching the iconic horror movies of the 1970s. I’ve written Lunar Park, a horror novel, as an homage to Stephen King.

“It seems appropriate that my first feature would be a horror film.”

He continued to describe the project saying: “There is a simplicity to Relapse that seems like the perfect form for my directing debut: something direct and impactful.”

According to Variety, he elaborated on the upcoming movie: “It will have my strokes: sex, drugs and paranoia. It will also be a fun, lush and commercial feature film for a lot of people to enjoy.”

Quinn was recently revealed to have joined the cast of Marvel’s Fantastic Four, along with Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The British actor is also set to star in A Quiet Place: Day One, scheduled to release in June.