Do hairstylists dream of murder?

I am no beautician, but my BFF is and you didn’t hear this from me, but the answer is: Y-E-S and without a doubt involves a pair of shiny gold scissors. Would it be a true salon massacre fantasy without them?

In her feature debut The Stylist (Check out my review from Fantastic Fest here), Writer and Director Jill Gevargizian explores the idea of what happens when a person desires to not only be someone else, but is willing to kill for the opportunity. Based on her experiences as a stylist she made a 2016 short of the same name. Jill was able to use the short as a roadmap for her feature debut. Being a devoted genre film fan, Jill turned to her collection of Brian De Palma flicks for inspiration saying, “A combination of psychological thrillers spanning different time periods - specifically thrillers with similar themes. Women losing their mind with jealously and wanting to be someone else, doppelganger type films. Specifically like in Carrie, Three Women, Sisters and more modern films such as Neon Demon and Black Swan.”

The Stylist tells the story of a hairstylist, Claire (Najarra Townsend). She comes off as a shy, pleasant and fastidious individual who seemingly wants to please her clients. However, much like Hannibal Lector or Nina Sayers, Claire has a dark side.

As patrons drone on saying such things as, “You’re outside my actual life, so I trust it doesn’t matter.”, meaning, simply- Claire doesn’t matter. Of course, turning to murder due to a malevolent comment from a customer may seem a bit excessive, once one gets to know Claire there is a feeling of sympathy. As Jill puts it, “Not to justify her [Claire’s] actions, but there is more to people than just the bad thing you know about them. Take Sling Blade- a complicated character [Karl Childers] such as that, I like that you don’t know how you are supposed to feel about him.”

The story succeeds in presenting the various layers of Claire to demonstrate how her past molded her future. A troubled upbringing that led to a lonely existence of wishing she could be someone else to create a new reality. This does not make her actions justifiable, but instead understandable. It also makes one have sympathy for the character despite the heinous acts she commits.

With an indie flick, the cards are stacked against the filmmaker before the first “action” is uttered. Plagued with minuscule budgets, tight schedules and often inexperience, there truly is only one thing that gets the film made: moxie. Jill’s road to get The Stylist made is a tale as old as time. Doors slammed in the face, a bag full of “NOs” and dead ends. “I was advised by everyone that this was not a kickstarter film. Last summer, I said screw that, we are doing this- we were trying to get The Stylist made for three years and just went for it.”

Jill prides herself on being a detail oriented person, and it shows. The sound design delivers chills down the spine. She makes gore look stylish with her eye for color and intricate production design. “We spent almost six months prepping to shoot. Blocking through scenes for three months. I love being on set- it is an intense experience and everyone has a similar goal and has to problem solve one thing after another. It is the shortest part - but the most fun and most crazy.”

I was fortunate enough to chat with Jill on the heels of her premiere at the 2020 virtual Fantastic Film Fest. Watch for The Stylist to be released from Arrow Films sometime in 2021.

Old Sport (OS): I read that you are a hairstylist - I can see where the inspiration for the story came from, but how did it turn so dark?

Jill Gevargizian (JG): It started dark, because mainly I had been making horror and thriller films. It dawned on me: hairstylist slasher, how does it not exist? In the 80s and 90s, a lot of profession movies existed such as Dr. Giggles and The Dentist. These over the top horror comedies, I didn’t want to make a straight slasher, I was more interested in psychological thrillers and anti-hero, give the opportunity to get to know the supposed bad person and show they have layers.

OS: While making the film, did you feel there were any happy accidents that occurred?

JG: Oh yea! There was the split screen - which was a hard thing to plan for, as you wonder if it is going to work. I already had the script structured to cut back n’ forth and, being inspired by watching De Palma, it was decided to have the images side by side.

Wanna read more? Find the rest of Old Sport’s interview with filmmaker Jill Gevargizian in the Fall 2020 PRINT issue of Moviejawn, available for order here. Watch for The Stylist to be released from Arrow Films sometime in 2021.