Black Sunday Confessions – Chris Marrs Piliero, director of ‘Appofeniacs’

In a world where anyone’s face, voice or actions can be fabricated with alarming accuracy, Chris Marrs Piliero’s Appofeniacs asks an unsettling question: what happens when the truth becomes impossible to prove? The film, which screened at Black Sunday Film Festival‘s Midsummer Scream, the blood-soaked horror-thriller uses deepfake technology as the spark for a chaotic chain reaction, exploring how fear, bias and our own willingness to believe can be just as dangerous as the technology itself. Mixing horror, satire and social commentary, it’s a film that feels unnervingly close to the world we’re already living in.

For this edition of Black Sunday Confessions, we caught up with writer-director Chris Marrs Piliero to discuss the inspiration behind Appofeniacs, the music video that first set him on the path to filmmaking, the horror classic that traumatised him as a child, and the surprisingly relatable nightmare that still manages to wake him in a cold sweat.

Chris Marrs Piliero, writer-director and actor

1. Tell us about your film and what brings it to the Black Sunday Film Festival.

Appofeniacs shows through multiple storylines how deepfakes can disrupt our lives by anyone with access to our face. People have a tendency to find connections and meaning in things that aren’t actually related… that’s apophenia. This inclination to believe what we want to believe can easily be exploited by deepfakes. I wanted to tell a story that used the technology as the catalyst but focused on the fallout that snowballs into chaos from the choices people make after the deepfake. And I turn the dial to 11 to have fun with it.

2. What moment made you realise you wanted to create films, not just watch them?

I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a part of this world. Initially it was music videos — particularly Thriller — that peaked my interest when I was a little kid. I didn’t know what a “director” was, but I knew I wanted to make music videos like that which told stories and were kind of mini movies and that quickly morphed into wanting to become a filmmaker.

3. What was the first film that truly unsettled you?

A Nightmare On Elm Street genuinely gave me nightmares. I remember watching it at a sleepover with friends when I was in elementary school. We had planned on camping in the backyard that night, but were too scared after watching it. So yeah, that movie scared the shit out of me but also created my love of horror films.

4. Who would be your dream collaborator, living or dead?

There are so many, but one of them would be Walton Goggins. Uncle Baby Billy is one of my all time favorite characters ever. Goggins rules and would do amazing stuff in a horror film.

5. If your worst fear became a film, what would it look like?

It would be a story about a guy who wakes up to learn he has his final test to graduate college and hasn’t studied at all. I still occasionally have this nightmare and I wake up in a heavy sweat. The worst.

Chris Marrs Piliero’s answers reflect the same energy that runs through Appofeniacs: playful, self-aware and unafraid to poke at uncomfortable truths. While the film’s deepfake premise may sound futuristic, his real fascination lies with the very human instinct to jump to conclusions and believe what fits our own version of reality. It’s that combination of timely ideas, dark humour and unapologetic horror that makes Appofeniacs such an intriguing addition to this year’s Black Sunday line-up.

We’d like to thank Chris for taking part in Black Sunday Confessions, and wish him and the entire Appofeniacs team every success as the film continues to find audiences. We hope you managed to catch it, and the other fantastic films at Black Sunday Midsummer Scream.

Appofeniacs trailer