A Mysterious Venmo Payment Turns Survival Into a Nightmare in an Upcoming New Film
Joe Russo and Chris LaMont are pushing further into dark, timely genre territory with a new horror thriller that feels ripped straight out of the anxiety spiral of modern life. The writing duo has secured the rights to a viral short story by Holly Riordan and adapted it into a feature screenplay titled When A Stranger Venmos.
The film is set to be directed by Frank Borin and Ivanna Borin, with Matt Smith and Dan Gedman producing through Highway 10. At its core, the story taps into a very specific fear that hits close to home for a lot of people trying to survive in big cities right now.
Originally published on Thought Catalog in 2022 under the title “A Complete Stranger Sent Me 10k On Venmo — But There Was A Catch,” Riordan’s short story exploded online thanks to its deceptively simple hook.
In the film adaptation, an assistant barely scraping by in Los Angeles gets an unexpected financial lifeline from a total stranger. The catch is that the money keeps coming, but only if she agrees to complete challenges that grow increasingly disturbing.
What starts as a solution quickly turns into a psychological trap, forcing her to decide how far she’s willing to go just to keep her head above water.
The Borins connected immediately with the material and the emotional pressure cooker at its center. “We’ve been obsessed with When a Stranger Venmos from the moment we read it,” said Borin and Borin.
“We were pulled in by how this horror thriller takes the anxiety of modern-day survival in today’s America and turns it into something sharp, fast, and terrifying. It’s the kind of story that speaks directly to what young people are feeling right now and that’s the secret weapon of the genre.”
Smith and Gedman added: “Russo and LaMont’s fast-paced thriller immediately excited us with its compelling mystery, franchisable villain, and most importantly the culturally relevant questions it was asking of what Gen Z is both forced and willing to do to get ahead in the modern world.
“We have long wanted to work with Frank and Ivanna Borin. Their style, sensibility and connectivity to youth culture make them the perfect directors for this project.”
It’s worth noting this Russo isn’t the blockbuster filmmaker behind Avengers. Screenwriter Joe Russo has been building a steady reputation in the genre space and recently sold the horror spec Portrait of God to Universal Pictures, which he co-wrote with filmmaker Dylan Clark.
The project is set up with Jordan Peele and Sam Raimi producing. Alongside LaMont, Russo also has feature credits that include The Inheritance, Hard Kill, The Locksmith, Soul Mates, and The Au Pair Nightmare, which he also directed.
As a producer, Russo’s résumé includes the horror anthology Nightmare Cinema and The Greatest Beer Run Ever. He’s also connected to the genre community through the podcast Post Mortem with Mick Garris, where he produced seven seasons featuring conversations with horror icons like Stephen King, Quentin Tarantino, John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, James Wan, and Edgar Wright.
Source: Deadline