Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk knew they wanted to write a script together. They’d worked on the same projects in the past as actors, but they were craving something different, and that’s how their new horror comedy Hell of a Summer was born.
They co-wrote and co-directed the satirical slasher movie, which they also starred in. It’s set at a gathering for camp counselors before their campers arrive for the summer.
“We met on a set surrounded by other young actors, and we’re all staying in a hotel together, so it’s kind of a summer camp experience,” Wolfhard said. “So we just set [Hell of a Summer] at camp!”
It’s no surprise that Wolfhard has a soft spot for horror. He’s starred in Stranger Things, It, a few Ghostbusters sequels and other slightly spooky projects. It was important to him to lean into the comedy of all of it, though.
Both Wolfhard and Bryk had the same idea for a short film, which Bryk explained to Yahoo Entertainment: A guy finds a “kill list” at a summer camp and slowly realizes that the people on the list are ranked in order from the hottest to the least hot. He’s ranked low, which offends him, and he keeps trying to ask people amid chaos if they think the list is fair.
That made it into Hell of a Summer.
Wolfhard and Bryk both appeared in When You Finish Saving the World, Jesse Eisenberg’s 2022 directorial debut. Wolfhard said he picked up “tons” of advice from Eisenberg on their shared trajectory, from actor to writer-director to a combination of the three.
“It was so fascinating to watch him work. Something that really stuck with me was how light he was on set and how much of a fun environment he created,” Wolfhard said. “If we ever wanted to joke around or do something funny, he really gave us the time and ability to do that. He just wanted it to be fun, even though the movie was often quite serious and there were very dramatic parts.”
Bryk said he had an incredible experience with Eisenberg on set as well, and their one-time director also became supportive of Hell of a Summer. He visited the set while his family was on a road trip through Canada.
“There’s footage of it somewhere on a handy cam,” Wolfhard said. “But he was always so supportive of the movie, ever since the very beginning and the first few drafts. I remember he would read them and he really liked it.”
Billy Bryk in Hell of a Summer. (Neon/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Members of the ensemble cast praised the script for the way it so clearly develops the characters. Bryk plays a socially anxious counselor striving to look cool, while Wolfhard plays a young man exploring a budding romance. Fred Hechinger portrays a counselor who’s on the verge of reaching the age where it’s no longer socially acceptable to hang out at camp.
“[The script] was so human. … I remember reading it the first time and immediately thinking that all the people who are in this movie are hilarious, but they’re also big versions of real people,” Hechinger told Yahoo Entertainment. “That was the drive of the movie.”
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Abby Quinn and Pardis Saremi, who also play counselors in the film, all agreed that the reason they signed on for the project was to get to work with Wolfhard and Bryk on their first big movie.
“It was the guys! It was their sense of humor and the ease that they brought to the whole thing,” Quinn told Yahoo Entertainment. “It was a fun way to spend the summer.”
Hell of a Summer is in theaters April 4.
