Classic Couple Academy

Bill is a dark comedic short film that explores themes of power, control, and societal expectations. The story follows a woman who, after years of enduring her sexist husband, takes matters into her own hands by murdering him and turning his corpse into a puppet of the perfect husband. This bold narrative challenges viewers to think critically about gender dynamics in a uniquely humorous and horrifying way.

Bill is showing as an official selection in the rom-com block at the 20th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival. See the HollyShorts schedule for details.

Our exclusive interview with writer/co-producer/and actress Deana Taheri and director Emily Dhue follows.

F1: What themes did you want to convey in Bill? And why choose to do so using dark comedy as the vehicle? 

Deana: I was in a moment of my life where I felt I was experiencing a lack of autonomy in various ways. And as a woman, I have experienced sexism in my life, as I’m sure that many other people have. So, the main theme I wanted to express when writing it was the lack of autonomy and also highlighting the absurdism of misogyny and patriarchy. There are moments where it is just sort of hilariously ridiculous how women can be treated so differently to men. Things can be expressed in a way that maybe even for your own benefit, you should change this to make yourself more acceptable in society or to improve your career, to improve your wallet. That was something that I was in the moment very much battling with internally. Then, I just honestly had an idea in the shower of how crazy it would be and what would happen if a woman operated her husband’s body? How, in a world where maybe she wouldn’t be seen, would she feel? Would she feel free, or would she feel more trapped? That’s where the angle came from.

Emily: The first time I read the script, it was like we’ve all been in a meeting room where a woman pitches an idea, and the man says the same thing and gets recognized for it. And for me, Bill is the most you could possibly expand on that joke and takes that joke all the way to the finish line. Autonomy is the core of the story. I think it really has to be dark comedy, because that’s the way that we experienced that feeling in the waking world. These moments that are almost hilarious when you can watch something like that happen, but simultaneously it’s crushing and terrible and has this other kind of dark side.

F2: Your character, Deana, does not have a single word of dialogue in the film. What opportunity did that present to you as an actress? What challenge did that present to you, Emily, as a director?

Deana: In dreaming this up, I was very inspired by the classic comedy clowns that we know and love. Charlie Chaplin—people who were able to express so much without a single word and using this sort of clown character. That was the angle I wanted to take because I think so often women taking on their own autonomy, can even be considered clownish in a societal setting. I just really wanted to explore this physical comedy and with something so big and absurd, as creating a puppet out of a corpse. I don’t necessarily think that any dialogue would have helped. I think if anything, having her experience being so realistic, in the sense of when you’re on your own and you’re doing something you’re not necessarily talking to yourself and explaining what you’re doing or anything like that. There was no need to add any superfluous dialogue to my narrative.  

Also from the beginning, I knew that music was something that I really wanted to be a huge part of this and as you can see from the film, we had an amazing composer. He created this score that is completely built for this movie and articulated every single movement. The biggest thing of importance for me was ensuring that the message was clear, and I think that actually the lack of dialogue helps with that.

Emily: I will say right out of all the things that I was worried about on the set, Deana’s acting, just, frankly, wasn’t one of them. Deana wrote this to do it, and I knew that she could do this when we took it on together. Deana’s ability to create these big fun facial expressions and huge over the top movements is one of the most fun parts of the whole film.

For me, it was about how can we make sure that we’re tracking this emotional arc through to its continuity? That’s why I break up these scenes like I do because the whole film is kind of like one big scene. So, it was important to me to have these markers. Dinner moment. Realization moment. Building moment. In my mind very distinct scenes that each get their own sort of small emotional arc. I think that was the most important part to tie this together.

Because Deana is going to be really entertaining to watch no matter what. But do we follow what’s happening was, I think, the biggest challenge. Then like Deana mentioned, the other part was the score, right? Because her character has no voice. This was essentially her voice.

F3: Music is certainly a huge part of the film. What was your collaboration like with composer Benjamin Squires?

Emily: It really started with finding the right person who really got it. One of the first things that we did was outline. Here’s exactly what needs to happen. His job was to come with the music to really orchestrate and bring in his own influences. But we really laid out exactly the beats that we needed to hit. Here’s where we need to build tension. Here’s where we can relax. Here’s where we need to be fun. Here’s where we need to be dark. And I think that was what made it smoother. We knew that he could do this as a composer. It was almost like writing a scripted dialogue, because this is essentially her voice, her narration.

Deana: It was a wonderful process working with Ben. Looking at Ben’s portfolio and having listened to a variety of his work, it was a big deal for us. In chatting with him initially, he was very open to understanding our means as a small production and the breadth of the task of taking on this project because, unlike many other short films, this project has music from beginning to end. There’s not really a single moment where there’s nothing going on. Overall, he was a really brilliant collaborator and without the music it definitely wouldn’t have worked. We knew the music was going to give it a whole new breath of life, and it absolutely did.

F4: This is not your first short film together. How do you navigate the creative process? What’s the key to your working relationship as filmmakers?

Emily: We trust each other’s taste is the biggest one, right? Essentially, the weirdest parts about our tastes kind of aligned perfectly to make something like Bill that is both really fun and joyous throughout but takes place in this dollhouse existing in this surreal world. So, I think that’s the first one. But then, being open and communicative. Deana and I are two people who are always going to say what we think. If there is a disagreement, we just hash it out. Because we care so much about the project. At the end of the day, we both want to make this beautiful, weird thing.

Deana: I think the most important thing is that we always remember that we’re in it for the same reason. This is something that—not just Bill, but this work—is something that we both absolutely love to do. We’re both very straightforward, caring, understanding people, and we have always been good at coming together and figuring out our next steps. But overall, I think remembering that we’re friends and we are collaborators. We are committed to each other and to the project. That’s the most important thing.

F5: What would you hope audiences at HollyShorts take away from their Bill viewing experience?

Deana: I hope they laugh. We’re programmed in the rom-com block. And we’re slap bang in the middle of the program. So, I’m super excited for us to be a surprising palate cleanser in amongst the other shorts. I’m sure the other films will be brilliant, but I can’t imagine there’ll be many shorts that are quite like Bill. So, I hope that we surprise our audiences and make them think a little bit. There’s nothing wrong with thinking.

Emily: If there’s one thing I’m really hoping for, it’s that there’s kind of a genre takeaway here. Because Bill has an important social message. It is a horror film and is very much a comedy. And in this instance, it’s a rom-com, which I think is awesome. The fact that we were able to tell this social story in the way that we did, I hope it’s a genre pusher and a fun observation. It’s an opportunity to showcase our work in this sort of very specific way. That is vastly different from every other thing that we’ve done. I do think that Bill stands on its own in terms of look and style and message overall.  

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Watch the Bill trailer.