In an exclusive video, writer-director James Roday discusses bringing Hulu’s March installment of the Blumhouse Televison horror anthology Into the Dark: Treehouse to life. Roday may be known to most television viewers as one half of the comedic detective duo from USA’s Psych or, more recently, from the ensemble cast of ABC’s mystery drama A Million Little Things, but he’s also an accomplished writer and director. His latest effort behind the camera offers up a supernatural take on the #MeToo movement and the idea of toxic men.
The sixth installment in Hulu and Blumhouse Television’s ambitious, year-long project, Treehouse follows The Body, Flesh & Blood, Pooka!, New Year, New You, and the claustrophobic Valentine’s Day thriller Down. The film is both a nod toward the end of winter and the approach of spring, as well as an observance of March being Women’s History Month. All of that comes into play very early on, as the story centers on celebrity chef Peter Rake (Jimmi Simpson), who journeys to his childhood home in an attempt to avoid a scandal unfolding in his personal life due to his penchant for objectifying women and using his status to get what he wants. What Peter soon finds out is that he’s dealing with a group of women who will see to it that he doesn’t forget the sins of his past, and they’ll do so by any means necessary.
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Treehouse has assembled an impressive ensemble with Julianna Guill (The Resident), Mary McCormack (The Kids Are Alright), Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Shaunette Renée Wilson (Black Panther), Sophia Del Pizzo, and Nancy Linehan Charles (Young Sheldon) as the film’s uniquely powerful women. It’s perhaps the most sizable cast working on the anthology that has so far delivered an entertaining series of low-budget horror films. And in the exclusive videos below, Roday, Guill, Simpson, and other members of the cast discuss what went into making Treehouse work. Check out the videos below:
It’s interesting to hear Roday discuss his work mainly from a directorial perspective, though his answer to the question of how his background as an actor influence his work behind the camera is also worth listening to. For the most part, Roday, Simpson, Guill, and Michael Weston (Elementary) tend to stick to the nuts and bolts of making the film work, leaving less room to discuss the themes and intentions behind the film, but there are a few moments where both Roday and Guill do open that particular door.
For anyone who’s already seen Treehouse (or the rest of the Into the Dark films), these exclusive videos act as a fun kind of supplement to the movie itself. And for anyone who has yet to step into the streaming service’s horror anthology, perhaps this peek behind the scenes will be enough to get you watching.
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Into the Dark: Treehouse and the other films in the anthology are all currently available to stream on Hulu. The series continues in April with ‘I’m Just F*cking With You’ on Friday, April 5, 2019.
