She Watches Blindly is the first feature length film by Bryan Tan. It premiered at the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival on April 26 2023.

When I think of mind reading, I think of a superpower, but in this film is feels like an illness, why?

This was an essential realization for me when writing the screenplay. I didn’t want to make a regular thriller, I wanted to grapple with the emotional consequences of knowing what people think about you all the time, seeing through people’s social masks into their raw reptilian urges. It could give you a very low view of people, and that is very much what happens to Beth. Far from being a gift, it completely paralyzes her from living a normal life. That felt like a potent idea to explore and something that maps onto many a modern malaise.

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Is it true you had a small crew for production?

Very small, most days there were no more than five or six people on set, all of us doubling up on the roles of a traditional crew. We managed this by working ahead of time. The filming location is also where I live so I had total access to the location at all hours. This turned out to be essential. It meant that I could frame the shots, light the scenes, and plan the blocking well before anyone arrived and have very clear instructions to give everyone. When actors arrived it meant that we could give our full attention to crafting the best possible performances.

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Tell us about the cast and why you selected them.

I wrote this script with the exact cast you see in the film in mind, and I am happy to say everyone said yes. They are all friends and actors whose work I have admired as we have come up together in the Atlanta film scene for the last decade. Rick Andosca (Dr. Abbott) is, in my mind, a living legend who came up with the greats in New York City in the 60s and now shares his knowledge with the next generation through his Meisner Technique classes. It was Emily Dunlop's (Beth Abrams) suggestion that I take his class even though I am not an actor to improve my directing insight, and she could not have been more right! It really is a beautiful thing to watch Rick teach acting and to learn from him, and I think a lot of that time in class makes it into the film in an oblique way. Everyone in the film has taken class with Rick at some point and I think it helped to give us all a trust in each other that extended far beyond the frame.