PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Coming of age stories often have a special connection to their audiences when they feel a piece of themselves in the character they’re following. Such is the case in Anna Key, a 2024 drama about finding oneself in a chaotic place. Let’s take a look at this indie hit and see how it shakes out.
Anna Key is written by Matthew Lee Anderson (Phobias Project T 2022) and Amanda Megan (Night Of The Axe 2022) and directed by Amanda Megan. It stars Abby L. Hendricks (in her feature film debut), Jesse L. Green (Blood And Breakfast 2024), and Joselyn Ortega (Heir Of The Witch 2023). Hendricks illuminates the screen as the titular Anna Key, a free-spirited sexual dynamo who creates mess after mess and then dances in the aftermath. When she encounters the retired Danny, his mature and placid demeanor shakes her foundation to its core and makes her rethink her nonchalant lifestyle.
Anna Key‘s biggest strength is the realism in which the story is told. Everyone knows someone with a party-first, cavalier attitude like Anna’s. Everyone has been to a bar like the one in this film, spending time with gruff locals that all have interconnected pasts. Everyone has been charmed by a charismatic person, only to regret getting swept up in their messes. The script feels like it’s written by real people, for real people, and that helps the tone and pacing swim right along.
Anna Key is unapologetic in its stance on sexual freedom, and Anna herself goes around collecting bodies and experiences as her past trauma leaves severe abandonment and commitment issues in their wake. Her fatal mistake is always right around the corner, which creates a lot of tension for the viewers. Her downward spiral is something akin to Smile (read our review here) or the Shameless series, where her isolation starts to chip away at her will to live, but it’s hard to look away from.
The shot list is pretty clean, all the characters have something interesting to do, and the emotions of the story are well paced. If you are a fan of character driven stories about trauma and growth, this film has plenty of meat on the bone. If you’d like to follow along with the distribution of Anna Key as well as supporting other films from Key 13 Studios, check them out at https://www.key13film.com.
