Grimmfest’s Grim Tidings from Gille Klabin, writer-director of ‘Weekend at the End of the World’

Premiering to an enthusiastic crowd at Grimmfest 2025, Weekend at the End of the World made its explosive debut yesterday – and if early reactions are anything to go by, writer-director Gille Klabin has delivered something truly wild, weird and wonderful.

Billed as a genre-bending blend of cosmic horror, buddy comedy and existential crisis, the film is a kaleidoscopic ride through grief, friendship, demonic portals, and the sheer chaos of trying to get your life together when the world is literally ending. Co-written, co-produced, and edited with a hands-on indie spirit, it’s Klabin’s second feature following his cult-favourite debut The Wave, and it continues his mission to tell bold, visually arresting stories on a shoestring budget – this time shot in just 12 days for under $300K.

The story follows two down-on-their-luck friends who retreat to a remote family cabin hoping to renovate and flip it, only to unwittingly unleash a supernatural force (and Meemaw) from another dimension. Featuring a genre-shifting turn from Reno 911!’s Thomas Lennon, a magnetic performance from Troian Bellisario, and a reality-melting visual style conceived and executed by Klabin himself, Weekend at the End of the World is as heartwarming as it is unhinged.

We caught up with Klabin as the dust settled on the film’s world premiere to talk haunted grandmothers, horror as emotional catharsis, and the very real terror of the English weather…

Gille Klabin, writer-director of ‘Weekend at the End of the World’

Tell us why you are at Grimmfest

When we were writing the script for Weekend at the End of the World our aim was to make a comedy horror that subverted expectations. We were making a movie that we would want to see at a genre festival, something that gave audiences the things they knew and loved but also surprised them so they’d never see the next thing coming.

We shot this film in just 12 days for under $250K, but we knew that if we pulled it off to the level we were hoping for, we would find our audience at genre festivals and beyond. Grimmfest was one of the first festivals we submitted to because of its incredible reputation in the genre circuit and its history of celebrating genre film. We’re overjoyed that the film was accepted and couldn’t imagine a better place to premiere the film to the world, and as someone who grew up in England, it’s an extra joy to come back home and share my work.

How did you get into horror?

While I never set out to specifically make horror, I’ve always been drawn to making things that make my audience feel. I come from a background of low budget music videos and in that world you have to innovate with limited budgets to make your videos stand out. Horror is one of the few genres that level the playing field. In horror a director gets to play with tension, pace, and style in a way that takes the audiences’ emotions on a ride and isn’t beholden to massive budgets. As an independent filmmaker with limited means, horror has become an incredible playground for me to tell stories that entertain and provoke thought.

What scares you the most?

I’ve always found the capacity for what people are capable of more terrifying than any concept or monster. When someone subscribes to a story or a justification to do something truly monstrous, there’s no limit to the horrors they’re capable of. We see it in society every day, the news is scarier than any monster I’ve ever seen.

Who or what is your favourite horror character?

I realize this is a bizarre answer but the first character that truly terrified me was Michael Jackson as a dancing zombie in the John Landis Thriller video. I think it was the combination of his character seeming so sweet before he transformed, and the amazing dancing while sustaining those bulging eyes and menacing expression that just confused and horrified me. I don’t think a horror character has ever affected me as much to this day.

What is the grimmest thing you have ever seen?

I’ve done a lot of documentary work in some grim places like prisons in Rwanda and favelas in El Salvador, but the grimmest thing I’ve seen is still England’s weather.

Weekend at the End of the World trailer