Matrix Writer Lilly Wachowski to Develop Animated Trans Horror

One half of the powerhouse behind The Matrix, Lilly Wachowski, is co-producing an adaptation of Hell Followed With Us with her co-producer Sarah Marie Flores under their Anarchists United Studios. Screenwriters Alvaro Rodriguez and Warren Wagner are adapting the screenplay. Production companies Trustbridge Entertainment and Powerhouse Animation will also join, alongside a packed list of other producers.

The film is based off the 2022 debut novel of the same name, written by Andrew Joseph White. The novel follows Benji, a transgender teen who escapes a fundamentalist cult behind Armageddon. The cult infected Benji with a monstrous bioweapon that will wipe out humanity entirely. He flees into the arms of a queer found family of teens camping out in an LGBTQ+ center, the ALC. He promises to use his mutations to save the center all while the group’s leader, Nick, hides his own secrets from the ragtag gang.

This YA story has all the makings of a great film. It mixes horror, romance, dystopian settings, and, of course, prominent queer and autistic characters. White himself is a trans, autistic author from Virginia who grew up with an affinity for monsters. He will join the production as a consultant. “I can’t wait to bring the book’s rage at a transphobic world to a new audience,” White tells Deadline. “Right when we need it.”

“Hell Followed With Us is such a visceral combination of dystopian fantasy, action, and horror that turning it into an epic anime-inspired feature was a no-brainer,” says Trustbridge Entertainment President Bob Higgins. “The gut-wrenchingly honest personal journey that is truly the heart of this story requires filmmakers with an authentic point of view to translate, and that is exactly what we’ve got with this dream team of producers and writers.”

Wachowski and her sister, Lana, are no strangers to queers stories. The Matrix has always been a trans allegory, brought to the world by two trans women. Wachowski is also currently working on Trash Mountain, a queer film following twenty-something Caleb as he returns to rural Missouri after the death of his father.

Photo courtesy of Peachtree Publishing Company