Darren Lynn Bousman and Lauren LaVera on Twisted's practical horror
Twisted unfolds like a deliberate genre bait-and-switch: what begins with the slick, mischievous energy of a heist movie tightens into something darker and more psychologically brutal. The film follows two millennials who flip New York apartments they don’t own until they encounter an apartment owner with a dark secret.
Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed Saw 2–4, directs Twisted, which stars Lauren LaVera alongside Djimon Hounsou and uses shifts in tone, color, and aspect ratio to mirror the characters’ loss of control. After a special screening, Bousman and LaVera joined Steve Weintraub for a Q&A that ranged from music and fan stories to the practical realities of low-budget filmmaking.
They spoke about the challenges of intense prosthetics, a compressed shooting schedule, and LaVera’s rapid-fire preparation. Bousman emphasized his preference for practical effects, joking that he currently has LaVera’s “brain” in his car.