I Am Lisa
I Am Lisa is a 2020 horror revenge film that was directed by Patrick Rea, based on a script written by Eric Winkler. Synopsis. The film follows Lisa, a young woman who runs a bookstore that was left to her by her deceased grandmother. She is bullied by the local mean girl and drug dealer Jess, who also steals a rare book from the store and later sexually assaults her when the two are alone in the bookstore. Lisa tries to report it to the local police, but is met with dismissal as the sheriff is Jess 's mom, Deborah, and the deputy her brother Nick. They instead arrange for Lisa to be viciously assaulted and left for dead in the woods. Lisa manages to survive the encounter after being bitten by a wolf and comes back with new supernatural powers that she uses to get even with those who wronged her. Production. Having previously worked for "The Kansas City Star," screenwriter Eric Winkler began writing the first draft of the film's script in 2016, and continued working on it through 2019. At the time he began on the draft, Winkler "just wanted to do something  creative." He chose to further pursue screenwriting and the script after the death of his father in 2018. Winkler has stated that I Am Lisa is "an homage to every revenge movie I’ve ever seen" and that “It was also heavily influenced by any movie that features a strong female protagonist, like "Aliens, ," and "Day of the Dead".” Winkler approached Rea during some of his film screenings, both early in the script's development process and later, when the idea was more fully formed. Rea enjoyed the idea of a revenge film, as well as that it was female -driven and in the werewolf genre, and agreed to direct. He suggested that Winkler change more of the characters to women, as the majority were male and he felt that this would make the movie "a lot more interesting" and "play better today". Kristen Vaganos was brought on to play the titular role of Lisa before the script was finalized. Principal photography for I Am Lisa began in July 2019 and the majority of the footage was shot over a period of 14 days, with the exception of some pick-up shots taken in the following months. Some of the  filming locations included an abandoned police station and a bookstore inside Kansas City. Release. "I Am Lisa" premiered at the Boulevard Drive-In in Kansas City, Kansas on July 2, 2020, after which it screened at the August digital edition of FrightFest, on August 28. Reception. Critical reception has been positive. Common praise centered on Rea's direction of the film and the character of Lisa, which "Starburst" called likeable. Elements of criticism included the lycanthropic makeup and some of the film's lines. "I Am Lisa" has a rating of on the review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes. The site 's critical consensus reads, "A werewolf revenge flick with bite, "I Am Lisa" is a vibrant and intellectually nimble journey into female empowerment."