The writer and director quinn shepardAppearing via Zoom in a sleek black T-shirt and shiny gold necklace, she comes across as energetic and outgoing when discussing her latest film. Not well, even when it comes to the harshest truths of our society. Following one woman’s misguided journey to become the internet’s next trending personality, the film is a satirical cautionary tale reflecting on how biased people on social media influence the reality we live in. Protagonist zoey deutch (Daniel Sanders), Dylan O’Brien (Colin), and mia issac (Rowan), the characters are connected through their collective use of the Internet to cope with trauma.
It was this ludicrous contrast between scary headlines, influencer scandals, and glossy beauty advertorials, and the resulting information overload, that sparked Shephard’s concept for the project. “Weirdly, I thought, ‘When they finally pass laws and stop school shootings, stop everything, then this movie will no longer be relevant and it will be great,'” she says. Instead, “it just keeps getting more relevant, which is tragic.”
Hailing from Metuchen, New Jersey, Shephard acted as an actress before turning exclusively to film. She has appeared in movies like unaccompanied minorsin which she played the sensitive but tough tomboy Donna Malone, and The Bad Education of Cameron Post, where she played the protagonist’s best friend with benefits. The 27-year-old creative made her directorial debut with her feature film Fault about a taboo relationship between a drama teacher and an unstable student, which he also wrote, produced, starred in and edited. Shephard often creates multiple characters who are forced to make decisions about the right or wrong ways to act in an effort to deal with difficult issues like bullying, abuse, and the addictive nature of popularity.
“I consider myself a very political person,” he says. “Speaking about important topics is really crucial for me and my art.” And with Not wellwhich begins with the need to see more nuanced versions of femininity on screen, even unsavory ones.
MTV News: You have directed Not well, your second great film, at only 27 years old. What initially made you turn to direct?
Quinn Shepherd: I was an actress from a very young age. My mom got me into acting when I was young and she directed me for a few years. I made my first movie Fault, when I was 20 years old, and my mom and I produced it together. She raised me to love movies. We always watched foreign movies at my house, and other movies, almost every night. Aside from a great film education from the 80’s and 90’s, he showed me all the old Winona Ryder movies: Heathers, The Virgin Suicides, Celestial Creatures. All of these movies impacted me as a teenager.
I started taking film classes when I was in high school, just a public school film program in New Jersey. I always felt very safe on set. I felt that it was a place where I could be interested in movies. It was always me and six guys putting on makeup and running around with cameras and boom mics being idiots. It was a lot of fun, and it was always where I really felt happy. I knew it was the only place where I could combine all my passions and all the different art forms that I enjoy.
MTV News: What inspired you to make this movie and focus on social media?
Shepherd: Honestly, it was something that came from the world around me the moment I started working on it. It was around 2018 when I was writing the first draft of the script, so it was simultaneously “summer of scam,” Articles by Caroline Calloway, but also this massive rise in Trump-era violence and politics. He would go on Twitter and see it next to skincare ads and influencers, and it was so weird. I was feeling angry and anxious and wanted to talk about that feeling that so many young people were going through at the time. It was like you couldn’t look away from your phone, yet when you were on your phone, you felt like it was almost detached from reality. Writing the script felt like a way to take the darkness and absurd lightness that we live with on a daily basis and the resulting anxiety and blend that into a cinematic concept.
MTV News: I love that the movie stars a nasty female lead. What made you want to go in that direction?
Shepherd: I always love a complicated, morally gray, unpleasant woman at the center of a story. We don’t see it enough. I love satire! We’ve had so many iconic satirical movies with extremely unpleasant men at the center, like [American Psycho’s] Nasty men on a Patrick Bateman level, and there’s never been a problem with people understanding what the politics of those movies are. Men have long been used as vessels for satire. I was really excited to be able to make a movie like this that was committed to having a nasty woman doing a lot of troublesome things, which is also very specific to being a young woman on the internet. It’s a bit polarizing. Some people say, “Why would you put a woman in this movie?” I’m like, “Why not?”
MTV News: Not well seems to ask people to examine their personal feelings about cancel culture through Danni’s dilemma. What do you want viewers to take away from this film?
Shepherd: There is no right answer on social media or cancel culture. I think both are complicated issues. There’s not a world where I want people to see this movie and say, “Oh, throw your phone in the ocean. Your phone is evil.” It was more about getting a real awareness and sense of humor about the absurdity of the internet, and also really understanding how it magnifies what we feel as a country right now. As young people living in the United States, I believe that the Internet is a magnifying glass for our emotions, privileges and prejudices. All of this affects the media we consume on a daily basis. It affects who we are.
I think it’s the same with cancel culture. It can be an incredibly toxic practice where we send rape and death threats to women, which is not a solution for them to make a mistake. That’s not going to help them grow. On the other hand, it is very important to hold people accountable for their actions. The movie was very much about exploring something that we live with now: it’s a real part of our world. I really wanted to explore, “What is a satisfying ending for a character like this? What is the best we can hope for? Is watching them suffer satisfying for an audience? Is seeing them have a happy ending a good ending?” I wanted to follow that line and see where we landed with the story.
As young people living in the United States, I believe that the Internet is a magnifying glass for our emotions, privileges and prejudices. All of this affects the media we consume on a daily basis. It affects who we are.
MTV News: Mia Issac brought fire and passion to her role as Rowan, a gun control advocate dealing with trauma. What was it like working with her?
Shepherd: Mine is amazing. Her acting in the movie is so beautiful. Working with her on set was a great honor. She was very young, she was only 17 when we filmed, and this was her second acting project. She brings all of herself every day. Every scene we worked on, she had playlists. We would sit and talk about the moments and the emotions that her character was going through. It was very easy to work with her. I think she really connected with Rowan on a deep level. It was that fire and passion that drew me to her for the role, and she was just great.
MTV News: Zoey Deutch and Dylan O’Brien add nuance to their roles as Danni and Colin. Why did you choose them to play these characters?
Shepherd: I think Dylan hasn’t really played a role like this before, but he’s a very talented comedic actor. He is also great in the drama. For me, he was a gut instinct. We had a similar vision of the paper. I did a Zoom meeting with him and realized he had a great sense of humor and knew who this guy was the same way I did. We were both like, “Pete Davidson. Justin Bieber. Kelly machine gun. Blonde hair, tattoos. We were so excited and sent each other the most ridiculous outfit photos and instantly vibed. I knew he was really going to transform and he really did. He is a bit unrecognizable in character in a big way.
With Zoey, I loved her work on so many projects. she loved her in Flower. I saw an ad for her premiere in Tribeca and I really loved that performance. It was on my mind when I was writing Not well. I was seeing her in my head when I was working on it because she’s so good for an incredibly brave actress who’s not afraid to play unpleasant women but also brings sympathy and vulnerability to all of her characters. This is no different. She was so committed to Danni. The fact that she can be so embarrassed one moment and then really feel sorry for her the next, that’s something very special.
MTV News: Has done Not well Has your own relationship with social media changed?
Shepherd: I really wish I could say, “Yeah, I’m not on Instagram anymore.” But the problem is that the film has made me more online because the research required me to be immersed in the Internet. I’m always on my phone because I always try to keep up with trends and what’s on TikTok. I was in my hotel room and I said, “I have to take a picture.” I was like, “OMG, I’m literally turning into Danni.” Maybe after the press, I’ll do a social media cleanup. Thanks for reminding me.
MTV News: Not well It can be classified as a political film. Do you see yourself making movies that are similarly related to politics in the future?
Shepherd: It’s funny, I consider it Not well Quite a political movie. My next project, which I can’t share much about yet, is a story that I think also has a lot of social and political themes. It’s hard to say if I’d make a movie that would be marketed like that, because I like to put people in a Trojan horse with something that feels entertaining but ultimately makes them face a lot of social issues.