Directed by Sarah Tice, written by Sarah Tice and Zachary Beckler, DID I? tells the story of Genevieve as she attempts to navigate her life with Dissociative Identity Disorder and begins to see flashbacks of memories she had no part in creating. Nervous of how dangerous she and her alter “Stevie” may be, she descends into hallucinations as she gets closer to the origin of her trauma.
As the winner of Portland Horror Film Festival's Best Feature Film, DID I? takes viewers on a journey of discovery and trauma through the lens of a disorder that is rare to see unfold in horror. Tice does a great job at making us believe the film is about one thing when it's actually about a lot more.
In a time where mental health is being taken more seriously, there is still a lot we as a society don't understand about certain disorders. This film puts a microscope on Dissociative Identity Disorder and allows us to see if from various perspectives. It also puts a spotlight on past trauma and how certain incidents can affect us. This causes for some uncomfortable scenes but Tice handles them with care.
DID I? follows Genevieve as she does her best to balance her disorder with her life. Her alter, "Stevie" sometimes takes over and Genevieve is getting flashes of events that she wasn't there for and it's taking its toll on her. Alexandra Pica, the actress behind the role of Genevieve and her alter, is exceptional to watch portray these characters. While Genevieve is more serious and strategic, "Stevie" is more laid back and carefree. Her performance was one of the highlights of the film.
The film uses creative shots, light and color theory, and a sense of wonder and suspense to keep viewers engaged. Knowing that the main character suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, we often don't know what is real and what isn't, putting us in the seat of someone who deals with this disorder and making a horror movie like DID I? much more viscerally terrifying.
When Sarah Tice was asked about her inspiration behind DID I?, she responded, "It started because I wanted to explore the duality of the characters that we all have inside of each other; and the fact that we have different sides of ourselves that we show to different people. And guilt as a complex in itself. That's something that I really wanted to explore."
She went on to say, "Dissociative Identity Disorder is something that I've always been really interested in and how the mind deals with trauma. So I went on this journey of making this film in a genre that I have not actually done before." Hopefully, we will get more horror from Tice and Beckler, the husband and wife duo, again in the future.
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