The call’s still coming from your phone, just not inside the house. In an interesting play on words, Deadline reveals that the film When A Stranger Venmos is currently in the works from writers Joe Russo (not the Marvel co-director) and Chris LaMont. The film is based on a viral short story by Holly Riordan published in 2022.
When a Stranger Venmos pulls directly from Riordan’s piece “A Complete Stranger Sent Me 10k On Venmo — But There Was a Catch,” originally published on Thought Catalog as part of her work with them. According to Deadlike, the film follows “an assistant struggling to survive in Los Angeles [who] is thrown a lifeline when a complete stranger offers her increasingly large sums of money to do stranger and stranger challenges. She must then decide just how far she’s willing to go to pay her bills.”
With a script from Russo and LaMont, When a Stranger Venmos will be directed by Frank and Ivanna Borin, best known for their music video work with artists like Lil Nas X and 5 Seconds of Summer. The film will be produced by Matt Smith and Dan Gedman via their banner Highway 10.
“We’ve been obsessed with When a Stranger Venmos from the moment we read it,” said the directing duo. “We were pulled in by how this horror thriller takes the anxiety of modern-day survival in today’s America and turns it into something sharp, fast, and terrifying. It’s the kind of story that speaks directly to what young people are feeling right now and that’s the secret weapon of the genre.”
Aside from her work with Thought Catalog, original short story writer Riordan has also published the thriller The Guilty Twin and the science-fiction novel Forget Her, as well as several other essays and story collections available through Thought Catalog. When a Stranger Venmos is the first screen adaptation of her work.
“Russo and LaMont’s fast-paced thriller immediately excited us with its compelling mystery, franchisable villain, and most importantly the culturally relevant questions it was asking of what Gen Z is both forced and willing to do to get ahead in the modern world,” said Smith and Gedman to Deadline. “We have long wanted to work with Frank and Ivanna Borin. Their style, sensibility and connectivity to youth culture make them the perfect directors for this project.”
No release date has been announced for When a Stranger Venmos. Stay tuned to FANGORIA for more updates as they arrive.
