XYZ Films has released the official trailer for the upcoming flick Hypochondriac. The psychological horror film delves into the effects of a man's mental breakdown once he begins spiraling, inspired by the filmmaker's own real-life mental health struggles. You can catch a peek at the movie by watching the trailer below ahead of its theatrical debut on July 29, 2022.
Hypochondriac is written and directed by Addison Heimann. It stars Zach Villa (American Horror Story), Devon Graye (Dexter), Madeline Zima (The Nanny), Yumarie Morales (The Shrink Next Door), Marlene Forte (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe), Chris Doubek (Lovers of Hate), and Paget Brewster (How I Met Your Father). You can read the official synopsis for the movie below.
Will, a young Hispanic gay potter, is one gregarious guy. His boss is terrible, but he's got a great boyfriend and a great job. Unfortunately, behind that veneer is a dark past of violence and mental illness that he is desperate to keep hidden. When his bipolar mother comes out of the woodwork after ten years of silence, he begins exhibiting unexplainable symptoms and spirals into an obsession, determined to solve this mystery of his own.
Hypochondriac Is Inspired by True Events
"So basically the film you are about to witness is a horror movie about my mental breakdown," filmmaker Addison Heimann says of the movie. "It wasn't fun. I mean, they never are, right? And if you think they are, maybe you're the wrong audience for this movie. Just kidding, the movie's funny! There are jokes! Please laugh. Comedy is tragedy plus time and there are things that happened during those six months where I lost function of my forearms and convinced myself I was dying that are too, too funny in retrospect. Definitely not at the time. But in retrospect! Like I just said, comedy, tragedy, time, etc."
The director added, "My goal of this movie was to capture visually what it felt like to have a mental breakdown. Everything is from Will's (my cypher's) perspective. The classic unreliable narrator trope (but he's queer so that makes it new right?). There are many movies that have come before this that allowed me to create this movie, and I'm forever grateful to be making films currently and pushing the genre forward (hopefully I did that, you be the judge). I don't have all the answers of how to live with mental illness (I'm still working on that), but I do know that until you recognize you have a problem and ask for help, you'll be stuck in the dark. But once you do, help will come. It will."
"It's so hard to ask for help, I know how much I felt like not wanting to be a burden to anyone, but you need to," Heimann says. "That's what friends are for. That's what this story is about. A story about a young half-Puerto Rican kid who goes from starting to succumb to the mental illness of his mother, to the first step of healing: acceptance of that illness. I hope you enjoy, and if you don't, hey, film is subjective! It's all gravy baby."
Hypochondriac is scheduled to be released in movie theaters on July 29, 2022, followed by a release On Demand and Digital on Aug. 4, 2022. The film is not rated and runs 96 minutes long.