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Screener Squad: Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt)

Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) Movie Review

ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE’S DEAD AUNT) MOVIE REVIEW

Sometimes we cherish the memories of the loved ones we’ve lost in our life, sometimes we are haunted by them, and sometimes, they literally manifest themselves in front of us and end up being our own harassing guardian angels. And that’s exactly what happens in writer/director Monica Zanetti’s debut feature “Ellie & Abbie (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt)” which was adapted from Zanetti’s 2016 stage play and ultimately crowdfunded into existence when no one appeared to have faith in an LGBTQ rom-com. As seventeen-year-old Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw) struggles to find the right way to ask her crush Abbie (Zoe Terakes) to the school formal, she proudly and bluntly comes out to her mom (Marta Dusseldorp), causing a rift between the pair, mediated by their family friend, Patty (Rachel House). On her journey of summoning the courage to ask Abbie out, or alternatively, being rejected, she is suddenly haunted by her dead Aunt Tara (Julia Billington), an LGBT rights activist who died in the 1980s. Aunt Tara doesn’t want to be called a ghost though, but rather a ‘fairy’ godmother, a pun she is quite proud of. Jordan, Trevor, Matt, and T.C. chat about this crowd funded, Aussie coming out and coming of age tale, and trade stories of their own promposals.

OFFICIAL TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Monica Zanetti

STARRING: Sophie Hawkshaw, Zoe Terakes, Marta Dusseldorp, Rachel House, Julia Billington, Bridie Connell, Randall Hua

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Jordan Cobb (Screener Squad)

Born with a comic book in one hand, a camera in the other, and in front of the television as WrestleMania played out, Jordan Worth Cobb was thus birthed into this crazy world. A Digital Filmmaking major from the University of Central Arkansas, Jordan has done it all in film from directing, writing, editing, and producing in addition to skills involved in film and TV criticism, journalism, and years of podcasting experience. On any given day, her ADHD riddled brain bounces focus from film to pro wrestling to TV to superheroes to noir to video games to espionage and yes, even to sports. She played little league you know. For more of this eccentric nerd, you can follow her on Twitter here and read her original writings on Deepest Corners of My Notebook.

 

 

Trevor Trujillo (Screener Squad)

Trevor T. Trujillo is a One Of Us contributor in addition to being the co-host, co-founder, and co-producer of the Nighthawks Podcast. Trevor’s 17-year media career spans multiple arenas including television, radio, podcasting, and online journalism; and he is currently the editor-in-chief for a regional online news provider in the Rocky Mountain West. Often a nomad, Trevor has found himself “at home” in places like Austin, Texas; West Hollywood, California; and throughout central and southeastern Wyoming. Get the pause button ready, Trevor also manages to pop up in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them featured extra roles in Nickelodeon’s FRED, TruTV’s OPERATION REPO and the Todd Rohal/Zack Carlson short THE SUPLEX DUPLEX COMPLEX.

 

 

Matt Foster (Screener Squad)

Matt Foster is a stand up comic, podcaster, and movie critic currently living in the greater Salt Lake City area. His lifelong love of genre film began early, when he realized they freaked out his mom. He performs (epidemics permitting) regularly on Dungeons and Comedy, a DND live play with standup comedians, and is the slightly less mustache-y half of the Nighthawks Podcast, a cinema-centric discussion cohosted by Trevor T. Trujillo.

 

 

 

T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)

T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.

 

 

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