Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a major form of escape in quarantine. The Nintendo Switch game is calming and non-competitive; it’s more of a hangout game than anything, where you build and design a community on your very own island. I load the game up whenever I’m on the brink of an anxiety attack or just need to get out of my own head for a moment. It’s a game where almost everyone is pleasant. And it’s full of bright colors, happy music, and cute animals.
But what if there were a sinister side to Animal Crossing? What if there were a frightening character trapped within the game looking for a way out? That’s the idea behind Julian Terry’s horror short Don’t Peek. The mini-film, which Terry made in quarantine, premiered at SXSW on March 15. You can also watch it on YouTube. It’s a terrifying and highly creative spin on a game that typically brings joy. And soon it will be a feature film.
According to Deadline, Timur Bekmambetov—director of films like Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter— is set to transform Don’t Peek into a full-length feature. Majd Nassif will produce, and creative executive Pavel Bozhkov will oversee the project.
Don’t Peek was filmed on a Blackmagic pocket camera in 2020. It stars Katie Cetta as a young woman who encounters a malevolent force within the game while playing Animal Crossing in bed. I don’t know about you, but the short absolutely terrified me. (Warning: If you’re watching with headphones, prepare for maximum impact.) And it definitely made me think twice about playing Animal Crossing alone in bed at night. Especially in the dark. No thank you.
Julian Terry
I can’t wait to see how Don’t Peek functions as a feature-length film. And if Nintendo will give them full license to go wild within the world of Animal Crossing. Here’s hoping we get a super-scary film as an end result.