Melissa Barrera on her new horror flick ‘Bed Rest’: ‘It had me weeping in my trailer’

Melissa Barrera starred as Sam Carpenter within the 2022 big-screen iteration of “Scream,” so she’s no stranger to the horror style.

That could be so, however Barrera, 32, advised The Publish that her new film, “Mattress Relaxation” — now streaming on Tubi — is way more than your usually trope-y horror/psychological thriller.

“Horror motion pictures aren’t my favourite — I really like all types of genres — however the motive I mentioned sure to this one was that I used to be on set taking pictures [a new movie] they usually gave me the script and pitched it to me and I used to be like, ‘If I can work with these folks that I already know and love [“Scream” producers James Vanderbilt, William Sherak and Paul Neinstein] that was step one,” she mentioned.

“After which I learn the script and it had me weeping in my trailer. I used to be crying inconsolably … and I used to be like, ‘This feels completely different. Horror motion pictures don’t usually make me really feel this fashion,'” mentioned Barrera, who additionally co-produced the film, written and directed by Lori Evans Taylor.

Melissa Barrera and Guy Burnet as Julie and Daniel looking suitably horrified in "Bed Rest." They're clutching each other in a bedroom and looking straight ahead. Julie is wearing a nightgown.
Melissa Barrera and Man Burnet as Julie and Daniel trying suitably horrified in “Mattress Relaxation.”
Allen Fraser

“It’s pushing the boundaries of the style a bit and it has plenty of coronary heart — and a message, I feel, that's necessary and related.”

“Mattress Relaxation” facilities on Julie Rivers (Barrera), who’s anticipating a child along with her husband, Daniel (Man Burnet). Upon shifting right into a roomy, stately and barely dilapidated nation house that’s being renovated, bizarre and scary occasions (at all times belief the cat who scurries away, frightened) begin to happen, however solely to Julie — who initially retains them to herself, even after she is restricted to mattress relaxation after tumbling down a flight of stairs.

We ultimately be taught that, a while earlier than, Julie and Daniel had a stillborn son, David, triggering in Julie an entire break with actuality and a keep in a psychological well being facility. Now, as she lies in mattress day after day, cared for by kindhearted doula Delmy (Edie Inksetter), she continues to see and listen to weird, eerie sounds and other people — together with a creepy younger boy who repeatedly refers to “child sister.”

Bed Rest
The plot for “Mattress Relaxation” facilities round a younger couple who misplaced a baby.
Allen Fraser

“I really like that it takes you on a journey of not figuring out who to imagine,” Barrera mentioned. “I really feel there’s this discourse of ladies not ever being believed. Ladies are robotically labeled as hysterical every time they really feel one thing or speak about something or once they get emotional about one thing — and that’s exactly what occurs to Julie with the individuals round her, like, ‘It’s all in your head, you’re having a relapse.’

“The viewers members are Staff Julie at one level after which, like, ‘Yeah, really this would possibly all be in her head’ so that you be part of these staff of doubters,” she mentioned. “So many moms who've suffered miscarriages, abortions, stillbirths and shedding kids know what Julie goes by means of. It’s not talked about. There’s a line within the film the place Julie says, ‘Ladies have been carrying the burden of grief for generations’ and that’s so true.

“I need all these girls to really feel like they’re not loopy for feeling the best way they really feel.”

 Barrera’s subsequent challenge, not but formally introduced, can be one other entry within the horror realm.

“What I really like about this style is that individuals who like thrillers or horror motion pictures are going to observe [‘Bed Rest’] anticipating a sure sort of journey, and I wish to shock individuals,” she mentioned. “Individuals who tune in, not figuring out something about it, are going to be like, ‘Oh, that is going to be simple — and I hope they’re pleasantly stunned by the top and have conversations about it.

“That’s all I can ask for.”

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