ET TU: The Horror of Theater

The show must go on.

It’s one of the most cliché of entertainment phrases, but there’s truth to it: Performances, especially those in live theater, once started must continue regardless of tech issues, costume troubles, or any myriad of other things that can and will go wrong. At what point, though, do you call it quits? How far is too far to push your cast and crew to achieve your vision? That’s for Brent to find out in the quasi-Kubrickian thriller/horror/pitch-black comedy Et Tu.

Only the Director Cuts

Brent (Lou Diamond Phillips) is going through it. He’s having a hard time getting his notes across to the cast of his regional production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. His lead, Marcus (Brennan Keel Cook), is wreaking havoc backstage, pretending to stab cast and crew alike with a prop dagger every night. Prop Master Vicky (Jaclyn Mofid) relentlessly tracks him down, constantly trying to keep her eye on both the retractable and solid prop daggers while also pleading with Brent to do something about Marcus. Marcus’ understudy Terrence (Antwone Barnes) is working overtime to be ready should he get the chance to go on, along with Margaret (Isabella Blake-Thomas), the understudy for Portia.

On top of it all, Brent suspects that his wife, producer of the show Nadine (Rachel Alig) has been unfaithful. The night he steps up to take control of his show, tragedy strikes and threatens to consume the theater, both on and offstage. Meanwhile, the theater’s mysterious janitor (Malcolm McDowell) is happy to clean up whatever messes befall him, as well as reveal information that he – or anyone – shouldn’t know.

The heart of this film is in Phillips’ performance. In every scene, he becomes more and more unhinged as he gives more of himself in service of keeping the show going. The more we learn, the more surprising and entertaining his role becomes. McDowell, of course, is a treat in any capacity, and here he’s clearly having fun. Cook is masterful as the entitled nepo baby lead, while Barnes and Blake-Thomas shine both in their scenes together as well as in their individual performances. Despite having sympathy for almost everyone under Brent’s iron fist, I especially felt for Mofid as the overworked (and likely underpaid) prop master doing her level best to keep it all together.

Pulling double duty as editor and cinematographer, Jacob Souza effectively uses close shots and harried cuts to keep us on edge as we move from one tense scene to the next, wondering in vain if things will ever calm down. When I say quasi-Kubrickian, this is what I mean: elements of The Shining come through both in the story of one man unraveling and those around him who face the consequences, which mostly takes place in a single location (here a theater, there a hotel), and in the tense, unsettling vibe that permeates each scene. Nothing ever feels quite right, in a good way, and you can’t help but watch to find out what’s going to happen next. As writer-director, Max Tzannes has delivered a look into the oft-stressful life of the theater, for both cast and crew, and has smartly utilized the score – composed by David Shea San Miguel – to amplify that sense of unease. The dark humor works well, even in the more surreal moments in the back half of the film.

ET TU: Pour Vous

Et Tu is a dark, tense, and entertaining film about the darkest side of what goes on backstage. In some ways, it’s the film equivalent of a car accident: you don’t necessarily root for one person over another, but you’re invested in the events unfolding and you can’t bring yourself to look away.

Et Tu is currently available to buy or rent on VOD, or stream on Tubi or Hoopla.