MT Meza’s debut film, the sci-fi horror thriller Affection, is gathering up its cast. According to Deadline, Jessica Rothe (pictured above), who starred in the indie horror films Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U, has joined the production. Joseph Cross (Lincoln, Mindhunter, Big Little Lies) has also joined in a starring role, and the young Julianna Layne (Prodigal Son, A Christmas Story Christmas) is part of the cast as well.
Here’s a synopsis of the film, per Deadline:
The film follows Ellie (Rothe), who is stuck in a cyclical nightmare. Grappling with a condition that erratically resets her memory, she’s left unable to remember her husband (Cross) or daughter (Layne). Each reset leaves her disoriented and haunted with vivid memories of a life she’s never lived.
It’s interesting that Rothe is once again in a version of a looped story—the premise of the Happy Death Day films is that her character relives the same day (her birthday) over and over as she tries to figure out who keeps murdering her. In Affection, it seems like her character’s challenges fall in the realm of Memento, in that she can’t remember her recent past once her memory is erased and has to potentially “relive” things over again.
The film is produced by Meza, along with Austin Walk and Bay Dariz via their company Hypochondriac, as well as JP Ouellette at Mass. Executive producers include Christian Henderson and Christy Walker.
The project is still in its pre-production days, so no news yet on when it will make its way to a screen near you.
