Paul Etheredge Returns to Horror with ‘The Other’
Twenty years after Hellbent made waves as a groundbreaking queer slasher, director Paul Etheredge is back with The Other, a psychological horror film that trades West Hollywood’s party scene for suburban nightmares and parental anxieties. And honestly? The man’s timing couldn’t be more perfect, dropping this foster care thriller on Friday the 13th like some kind of horror marketing genius. (Watch it now via digital & on demand.)
The genesis of The Other reads like a filmmaker’s fever dream turned cinematic reality. Five years ago, Jeffrey Reddick (yes, the Final Destination mastermind) approached Etheredge with what the director diplomatically calls “a very little bit of money” to make a movie. Anyone familiar with indie horror knows this translates to “we’ve got enough cash for craft services and maybe some fake blood.”
Working within those constraints—minimal locations, small cast, maximum psychological impact—Etheredge crafted a story that had been haunting him for years. The film follows an infertile couple who foster a traumatized, mute child whose previous family was brutally murdered. What starts as a hopeful attempt at creating a family quickly descends into something far more sinister as the child’s violent past begins to infect their present.
The seed for this domestic nightmare sprouted from Etheredge’s own anxieties about fatherhood. He describes having a literal nightmare about “having a newborn who was a terror, violent and malicious, and trying to be a good dad and nurture it, and constantly failing.” That visceral fear of parental inadequacy—that crushing weight of responsibility coupled with the terror of getting it wrong—forms the emotional backbone of The Other.
What makes children terrifying in horror films? Etheredge’s analysis is refreshingly thoughtful. Kids operate outside adult social constraints, he explains, communicating differently and acting instinctively without fully understanding consequences. In The Other, this natural unpredictability is amplified by trauma and the inability to communicate—the foster child, Kathelia, is literally mute, forcing her to act purely on survival instincts.
The collaboration between Etheredge and Reddick went beyond typical producer-director dynamics. With Kathelia being Black and her foster parents white, Etheredge leaned on Reddick’s perspective to navigate potentially sensitive racial territory. What’s more, drawing on his own multiracial family background (he jokes about being “the only white guy” in his family), Etheredge approached these dynamics with care, consulting both Reddick and his own family members to ensure authentic representation.
Casting proved particularly challenging for Kathelia’s role—how do you audition a child actor who has no dialogue? Etheredge worked with established casting director Carrie Barden (Seven) and developed improvised scenes to gauge young actors’ natural responses. It was his first time directing children, adding another layer of creative challenge to an already complex project.
Interestingly, Etheredge doesn’t consider The Other particularly scary. “I think it’s funny,” he laughs, while noting that friends have told him otherwise. His favorite sequence involves a tense cat-and-mouse game at a lake house between the new father and Kathelia’s previous adoptive mother—a scene that showcases the film’s psychological complexity through stellar performances.
Looking back at Hellbent—which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year—Etheredge reflects on how both he and queer cinema have evolved. The film’s lasting impact, he believes, stems from treating its gay characters as people first rather than walking identity statements. “Their identities were not about being gay,” he notes, crediting his upbringing by lesbian mothers for this perspective.
Now with five scripts ready to roll, Etheredge is waiting to see how The Other performs before mapping his next move. Based on this intelligent return to horror, audiences should be very excited about what comes next.
