The Ending Of Brightwood Explained

Dane Elcar told Cinema Crazed about the thought process and production process that went into making «Brightwood.» With an estimated budget of just $14,000, the writer-director, his actors, and his sound designer and composer had to be resourceful and efficient. The film took 12 nonconsecutive days to shoot on location at Egbert Lake in Rockaway, New Jersey. Since the public still had access to the area, Elcar had to work around distractions such as people fishing and kids riding ATVs near his set. He edited the film himself over the following year, eventually adding in what he could fit of his friend Jason Cook’s 83-minute original score.

«Horror from the seemingly mundane is my bag of chips,» Elcar said. To him, relationships are «truly terrifying» subject matter. Of the warped plot, he said, «It allowed me to really explore the emotional cycles that can happen — the kind of progression and then regression in and out of toxicity.»

Max Woertendyke, who plays Dan and co-produced the film, suggested Dana Berger for the role of Jen. They’d worked together before, had become good friends, and knew they’d have chemistry because of their pre-existing relationship. Berger explained to The Cinema Guys that playing Jen was «an actor’s dream,» while Woertendyke and Elcar added that they’d rehearsed so much over Zoom that they were able to be more creative, thanks to their high level of preparedness, once on set. One thing they couldn’t prepare for? Ticks. Elcar said he contracted Lyme disease during the shoot.