Cork director Billy O'Brien has told RTÉ Entertainment that he wants viewers to take away a message of love from his acclaimed new film I Am Not a Serial Killer.
Based on the Dan Wells bestseller of the same name, O'Brien's supernatural thriller stars young American actor Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) alongside Back to the Future's Christopher Lloyd and Breaking Bad's Laura Fraser.
It tells the story of John Wayne Cleaver (Records), a 16-year-old who is obsessed with serial killers but fears he may become one himself. When a series of murders takes place in his hometown, John decides to investigate, knowing that it may push him even closer to the edge.
Mixing scares with black humour, O'Brien's film doesn't hold back when it comes to viscera, but the Buttevant man told RTÉ Entertainment this week that he would like audiences to look on the bright side.
"It's about, despite everything, finding love in a place," he said. "There is a theme about love is all important, really. If I say more I will give away things - and I don't want to give away things!"
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O'Brien adapted Wells' book for the big screen with co-writer Christopher Hyde. Both men were among the nominees at the British Independent Film Awards at the weekend, with stars Records and Lloyd also shortlisted in the acting categories.
"The book had such great characters," said O'Brien. "Unlike an American studio film, I suppose, they weren't sort of bland: they were very 'broken family', interesting, kind of raw. That just hit it for me. And the setting of the snow, Midwest feel, small crumbling town - great."
While filmed in Minnesota, I Am Not a Serial Killer was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, but O'Brien had no intention of setting the story back home.
"Dan Wells, the writer of the book, it was the first question when he met me - 'Would you do it in Ireland?' I was thinking, 'Well, I grew up in Buttevant. You could set it in Buttevant - it'd be a film in the rain...'
"And that was the point: the book was soaked with Americana. It felt like Fargo, David Lynch - all the great 'underbelly of a small American town' films. It would've been a bit of a shame to do it in Ireland. It'd be interesting in a few years if somebody took it on and did an Irish version of it; that'd be quite interesting to see..."
I Am Not a Serial Killer is in cinemas from Friday.
