Have you ever wanted steamy fan-fiction visualized into a teen comedy? Well, we have just the thing for you. The first trailer has been released for Slash (its title stemming from the phrase “slash fiction”). Writer-director Clay Liford‘s quirky comedy centers on Neil (Michael Johnston), a freshman in high school who spends his spare time writing erotic slash fiction. After a humiliating encounter reveals his hobby to his entire class, he catches the attention of Julia (Hannah Marks) — who also writes steamy fan fics. She encourages him to share it on an online forum and voila! He catches the attention of the site’s moderator, Denis (Michael Ian Black). Just like that, we have a tangled web of real life and fan-fic romance as Neil falls for Julia, Denis falls for Neil, and maybe Julia just falls for the words… but you know, also probably him.
The trailer is covered with praising quotes and festival banners, suggesting an indie teen comedy with true heft. We said in our review, “The film is surprisingly good-natured, garnering organic laughs from misunderstandings between patents, teachers and kids, making adults (including editors and gatekeepers) out to be the villains in a bit of necessary youth angst. A bit rough around the edges at times, Slash lives and breathes throwing in colorful characters like Martine (Jessie Ennis), a pregnant high school student who occasionally is there for Neil when he’s abandoned by Julia. Meanwhile, she experiments with drugs and an older boy who still lives at home with his mother as Neil starts to feel things for her that he can’t quite explain and nor does the film.”
See the trailer and a poster below.
Neil is a questioning high school freshman whose main social outlet is the steamy erotic fan fiction he writes about Vanguard, the brawny, galaxy-hopping hero of a popular sci-fi franchise. When Neil’s stories are exposed in class he is mortified, but the effortlessly-cool Julia comes to his defense. An erotic fan fic writer herself, Julia pushes Neil to publish his stories to an online “adult” forum, where they quickly grab the attention of the site moderator, Denis. When Neil is invited to present his work at a comic con live-read event, he must face the fact that Denis’ interest in him may be more than simply professional… perhaps like his own feelings for Julia.
Slash hits theaters December 9th.