‘The Wrath of Becky’ Directors and Star Lulu Wilson Preview the Bigger, Bloodier Sequel [Interview]

Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote (The Open House) wrote and directed The Wrath of Becky, a sequel to the violent home invasion film that made headlines back in 2020.

In the film, “Two years after she escaped a violent attack on her family, Becky attempts to rebuild her life in the care of an older woman – a kindred spirit named Elena. But when a group known as the “Noble Men” break into their home, attack them, and take her beloved dog, Diego, Becky must return to her old ways to protect herself and her loved ones.”

Lulu Wilson stars alongside Seann William Scott, Matt Angel, Courtney Gains, Aaron Dalla Villa, Michael Sirow, Denise Burse-Fernandez, Jill Larson, and Kate Siegel.

Bloody Disgusting spoke with Wilson, Angel, and Coote after The Wrath of Becky’s world premiere at SXSW, where the trio discussed softening the wrathful teen with comic-book-style violence and humor. Here’s part two of the chat, where Wilson, Angel, and Coote expand on the comedy and the rules they set forth for the sequel.

Wilson reiterates the tonal shift between Becky and The Wrath of Becky.

“The first movie has some funny moments just because of the circumstance, but it wasn’t nearly as funny or almost campy as this one was,” the actor points out.

Angel expands, “I mean, we have to earn the level of camp we go to. That’s another reason we knew we had to ground the first act of this film. Once we’ve established the humans behind these characters, we knew that we could get away with some of the insanity around it.”

“Yeah. To cover me in blood,” Wilson deadpans.

The Wrath of Becky

Because this sequel aims for a more comedic tone to offset its bigger, bloodier body count, Bloody Disgusting asked if the team created any rules to keep the story grounded within the already established violent world, especially regarding Becky’s beloved dog.

Coote answers, “I said the dog needs to be in this sequel. The dog will not die. The rule is nothing happens to the dog. And the rule is also that these men are disgusting, but you shouldn’t feel dirty after watching it. There’s a line. She’s an amazing young woman, and you should feel like the things they say are disgusting. But every line they say, it’s very specific.”

On the latter point, Wilson points out that finding the line before the villains take things too far took some tweaking.

“You took it back a little bit,” Wilson says to her directors. “I remember my dad read the script and was like, ‘They need to take this out.’ I said, ‘Dad, do you not realize it’s already Becky? It’s already bad. There’s already so much blood and gore. These people are going to be saying what they’re saying.’ That makes you want Becky to pull through and these people to freaking die way more. So, you did, I think, significantly take it back. Like with the diner, there was way more dialogue in the diner and at the dinner table.”

Coote responds, “A script is a script. Then, you hire the actors, they say the words, and then it’s moving. So you go, okay, that’s a bit much. Because our girl’s still underage, and we want to have fun. That was important. That was a rule, too, for me.

“We wanted to take over a few things from the first one. We had to continue the story of the key. Okay. We’re not going to answer it, but we’ll continue it. And the dog, not going to kill him. Having a comedian as the villain, a traditional comedian, Seann William Scott, has done some more drama but less evil fascist. Our director’s spidey senses were like, we can get a little fucked up. If he were here, he’d be like, yeah.”

'The Wrath of Becky'

Pushing that envelope is most overt with the sequel’s gnarly deaths and violence. Coote shares how much freedom they had coming up with unhinged ways to kill evil people.

“Well, I’ll say one thing. Matt and I will; when we’re looking at something like kills, you literally look at each character and their kill and look at the first movie. It’s almost like an equation but a very simple one. New weapon, a weapon that gives you more blood. We just workshop different kills. But the producers at Quiver and BoulderLight are amazing; I’ll work with them until the day I die. They were like, ‘More blood. Talk about the key.'”

See those kills in action when The Wrath of Becky releases in theaters on May 26.

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