Hypochondriac Is a Queer Horror Film That Gets Under Your Skin
Hypochondriac and the phrase that haunts the character of Will (Zach Forte) as he spirals deeper and deeper down into paranoia that his body’s betraying him and a supernatural creature is hunting him.Will is a young gay Hispanic potter whose life is pretty great when audiences first meet him.
He has friends, an amazing boyfriend, and a job working for an upscale pottery. But anyone who has experienced periods of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks will identify with his journey, because he’s also plagued by a past that still has its hands wrapped around his throat — and when it reemerges without warning, things take a dark and monstrous turn.It begins with physical manifestations: Issues with his hands and arms that begin spreading further throughout his body, leading him to fear that something’s terribly wrong with him.
Then there are visions of a wolf-like creature that appears intent on devouring him. If this sounds like a terrifying film, imagine living through much of this for real; for Heimann, many of the most frightening moments in the film are ripped directly from his own life. “So basically my mom’s bipolar.
And in the winter, Christmastime of 2018, I went home. I was staying with her the whole time, and she was in a pretty bad episode,” he tells The Advocate.
