PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Sibling relationships can often be fraught with contention. But at the end of the day, when mom is away and there’s a dead babysitter in the garage, teamwork is a must. As someone who grew up with three younger siblings, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead director Wade Allain-Marcus was instantly drawn to the script of the film, which was released in theaters April 12 and is a modern remake of the 1991 classic starring Christina Applegate (Bad Moms 2016).
This time around, 17-year-old Tanya Crandell (Simone Joy Jones, Bel-Air 2022 [our interview]) is forced to fabricate a resume and work for fashion powerhouse Rose (Nicole Richie, Cursed Friends 2022) in order to provide for her three younger siblings. With her mom (Ms. Pat, Drugstore June 2024) away in Thailand on a much-needed wellness retreat, and no-nonsense babysitter Mrs. Sturak (June Squibb, Nebraska 2013) sleeping with the fishes, it’s up to Tanya to take on the responsibility of adulthood and say “goodbye” to her dream summer in Spain.
PopHorror recently chatted with Allain-Marcus about his excitement over the film, what sets it apart from the original and how, as a big brother, he can empathize with Tanya.
PopHorror: What about this project made you want to get involved as director?
Wade Allain-Marcus: The script. It was a wonderful script by Chuck Hayward and it just really made me think about my siblings. This is a sibling love story at heart and so I just really kind of sparked to it when I read it and was very excited about it.
PopHorror: When a film is remade so many years later, it’s natural for people to compare the two. But what, in your opinion, sets this one apart?
Wade Allain-Marcus: Well, besides it being Black [laughs]… I think that to all the people that are sort of reticent to see something so beloved, this film is very much in conversation with the original. We shot in the original house, we have some cameos from there. So all of that stuff, we very much wanted to be in cahoots. We have some of the favorite lines.
But then on the other side of it, I do think this film works better Black. Ultimately, this story is about young kids who are forced to be adults before their time, and that’s just ubiquitous for young Black kids. So for me to be able to tell this story with this family, this Black family at the center of it, it felt like, “Oh yeah, OK, that was a fun version of the story, but I think we can actually go deeper.” And you have that with siblings, too. Ultimately, this movie is a love story between fractured siblings that have to come together in the wake of some intense things.
PopHorror: And you mentioned that you can kind of relate to it with your siblings. Can you elaborate on that?
Wade Allain-Marcus: I’m the oldest of four, so I related to it in the sense that I was kind of both a parent and a sibling to a lot of my siblings. And so it felt like just the right territory to think about that and make something of that that would be like, “Oh, this is a love letter to them.”
PopHorror: This is such a strong cast, from Nicole Richie to June Squibb and Ms. Pat. What was the dynamic like on set with everyone?
Wade Allain-Marcus: It was really, really an incredible joy. Speaking of Simone Joy Jones, who’s our lead, she was just so fantastic and set the tone of buoyancy. We wanted this film to feel really buoyant and joyful and fun, that was kind of the tone that we were going for. And the kids all fell in love with each other, they had an incredible chemistry. Nicole is comedic gold and really brought it and was just so funny. Of course, June Squibb is a legend. Ms. Pat a legend. So I think everybody was very surprised because you don’t know what the chemistry is going to be like between people. Obviously, we didn’t know because we cast the whole movie on Zoom. But when we all got to set and were working together, it felt like we had been a family for a long time. So it was wonderful.
PopHorror: Overall, it’s just a really fun movie, but is there any kind of underlying or deeper message that you hope people take away after watching it?
Wade Allain-Marcus: Yeah, I think like we were talking about earlier, it’s really important to be a kid and to get to be a kid in order to be a full and good adult. I think that’s one thing. And I think also, love your siblings because they’re the ones that you got. Even though that relationship can sometimes be contemptuous and fraught, come back to it as often as you can because hopefully they’re there for you.
Thanks for speaking with us, Wade!
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead is in theaters now and will be available on demand soon!
