Dissecting the Eccentric Heart of 'The True Beauty of Being Bitten By a Tick'

I don't know about you, but ticks give me the creeps. Tiny little secret vampires that carry potentially life-threatening diseases? No thanks! Ickiness of ticks aside, I was pleasantly delighted to find their beauty as a plot device in Pete Oh's (co-writer, director, editor, and cinematographer) latest feature, The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick. Oh's unsettling, darkly comic SXSW entry follows Yvonne (Zoë Chao) shortly after the tragic death of her dog. Looking for an escape to process the grief, she reaches out to her old pal Camille (Callie Hernandez) to spend some time in her secluded, woodland cabin. Upon Yvonne's arrival—much to her initial dismay—she is greeted by not only Yvonne, but also her unsettling, peculiar friends and house guests, A.J. (James Cusati-Moyer) and Isaac (Jeremy O. Harris). What transpires next is a series of unappetizing spaghetti, overbearing camaraderie, made-up literary games, and, you guessed it, ticks. Without spoiling too much, it gets really weird. Really, delightfully weird. In honor of its SXSW premiere, we caught up with Ohs and Hernandez to chat about the intimate filmmaking process that brought The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick to life. Please do enjoy, and hopefully, you too can find within you the true beauty of being bitten by a tick (ick). Editor's note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity. NFS Interviews Writer Pete Ohs and Actress Callie HernandezNo Film School: What’s the original genesis of using tick bites as the central connectivity of the plot?Pete Ohs: While visiting Callie at a house she was renting upstate, I was informed that the countryside was full of ticks. The potential of getting Lyme Disease made me fearful to go outside despite knowing I would enjoy a pleasant walk through a field of tall grass. I chose to stay inside.Simultaneously, for many people, at a certain stage in life, there seems to be an urge to settle, to simplify, to leave the chaotic city and buy a house upstate. I have felt this urge.The threat of a life-altering disease mixed with the promise of rural paradise felt like a ripe environment to tell a human story.Callie Hernandez: It’s true. We walked outside and we stood at the edge of an idyllic countryside meadow and asked ourselves what we saw. “Ticks,” was our answer, “Billions of ticks.” Which was quickly followed up with the terrifying realization that one bite could ruin the rest of your life.NFS: How did you manage to keep an off-kilter tone so succinct throughout the film?PO: A huge part of the tone was discovered with the actors on the first day on set. During Yvonne’s arrival dinner scene, we kept slowing the performances down until we felt like we were on drugs. Intuitively, this felt right and that decision informed everything that followed. The key to keeping it cohesive is to trust that instinct and keep trusting it at every step. And then in post, we used music and sound design to support the vibes we had been creating while shooting.CH: Eclectic people make eclectic films, I suppose! The film is co-written with all the actors, but as Jeremy O. Harris has said, the film was really authored by Pete. Tone is something that Pete likes to guide, but not dictate, so it emerges organically throughout the process. NFS: Tell me a little bit about the production process and any anecdotes from the shoot.PO: Filmmaking is inherently a pressure cooker. There is a finite amount of time to uncover something unknown. I make lots and lots of decisions to relieve the pressure, lower the stakes, and let go of expectations. To wind up with an interesting product, we prioritized the process. This is why we all lived together in that house, started production without a script, and took creative risks every day.CH: Jeremy got very into making elaborate family dinners. We really did settle into a kind of familial dynamic, funnily enough. And Jerry the dog was played by my dog Cherry—a real star.NFS: Any particular unforeseen challenges in this unique production style?PO: During our penultimate night scene, my portable light ran out of batteries. I did not anticipate this. We scoured the house for every available extension cord and strung them together to stretch far across a wet lawn in the middle of the night and got the shot.CH: Figuring out the logistics for how the birth scene would work was a funny challenge. There was a tube involved…NFS: What are some of the things ways you translated the poetic tone of the script to play for the Final Cut? PO: As we figured out the story, it became clear we were not beholden to the rules of reality and certain elements could function like a fairytale. This gave us room to play with style and performance.NFS: This film is so unique in so many ways. Are there any direct inspirations?PO: In the beginning, we were talking about Bergman’s Cries & Whispers. Then as the shoot progressed, we observed how the film was evolving into something more genre. The idea of Bergm

Mar 29, 2025 - 01:39

Dissecting the Eccentric Heart of 'The True Beauty of Being Bitten By a Tick'

I don't know about you, but ticks give me the creeps. Tiny little secret vampires that carry potentially life-threatening diseases? No thanks! Ickiness of ticks aside, I was pleasantly delighted to find their beauty as a plot device in Pete Oh's (co-writer, director, editor, and cinematographer) latest feature, The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick.

Oh's unsettling, darkly comic SXSW entry follows Yvonne (Zoë Chao) shortly after the tragic death of her dog. Looking for an escape to process the grief, she reaches out to her old pal Camille (Callie Hernandez) to spend some time in her secluded, woodland cabin. Upon Yvonne's arrival—much to her initial dismay—she is greeted by not only Yvonne, but also her unsettling, peculiar friends and house guests, A.J. (James Cusati-Moyer) and Isaac (Jeremy O. Harris). What transpires next is a series of unappetizing spaghetti, overbearing camaraderie, made-up literary games, and, you guessed it, ticks. Without spoiling too much, it gets really weird. Really, delightfully weird.

In honor of its SXSW premiere, we caught up with Ohs and Hernandez to chat about the intimate filmmaking process that brought The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick to life. Please do enjoy, and hopefully, you too can find within you the true beauty of being bitten by a tick (ick).

Editor's note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity.

NFS Interviews Writer Pete Ohs and Actress Callie Hernandez

No Film School: What’s the original genesis of using tick bites as the central connectivity of the plot?

Pete Ohs: While visiting Callie at a house she was renting upstate, I was informed that the countryside was full of ticks. The potential of getting Lyme Disease made me fearful to go outside despite knowing I would enjoy a pleasant walk through a field of tall grass. I chose to stay inside.

Simultaneously, for many people, at a certain stage in life, there seems to be an urge to settle, to simplify, to leave the chaotic city and buy a house upstate. I have felt this urge.

The threat of a life-altering disease mixed with the promise of rural paradise felt like a ripe environment to tell a human story.

Callie Hernandez: It’s true. We walked outside and we stood at the edge of an idyllic countryside meadow and asked ourselves what we saw. “Ticks,” was our answer, “Billions of ticks.” Which was quickly followed up with the terrifying realization that one bite could ruin the rest of your life.

NFS: How did you manage to keep an off-kilter tone so succinct throughout the film?

PO: A huge part of the tone was discovered with the actors on the first day on set. During Yvonne’s arrival dinner scene, we kept slowing the performances down until we felt like we were on drugs. Intuitively, this felt right and that decision informed everything that followed. The key to keeping it cohesive is to trust that instinct and keep trusting it at every step. And then in post, we used music and sound design to support the vibes we had been creating while shooting.

CH: Eclectic people make eclectic films, I suppose! The film is co-written with all the actors, but as Jeremy O. Harris has said, the film was really authored by Pete. Tone is something that Pete likes to guide, but not dictate, so it emerges organically throughout the process.

NFS: Tell me a little bit about the production process and any anecdotes from the shoot.

PO: Filmmaking is inherently a pressure cooker. There is a finite amount of time to uncover something unknown. I make lots and lots of decisions to relieve the pressure, lower the stakes, and let go of expectations. To wind up with an interesting product, we prioritized the process. This is why we all lived together in that house, started production without a script, and took creative risks every day.

CH: Jeremy got very into making elaborate family dinners. We really did settle into a kind of familial dynamic, funnily enough. And Jerry the dog was played by my dog Cherry—a real star.

NFS: Any particular unforeseen challenges in this unique production style?

PO: During our penultimate night scene, my portable light ran out of batteries. I did not anticipate this. We scoured the house for every available extension cord and strung them together to stretch far across a wet lawn in the middle of the night and got the shot.

CH: Figuring out the logistics for how the birth scene would work was a funny challenge. There was a tube involved…

NFS: What are some of the things ways you translated the poetic tone of the script to play for the Final Cut?

PO: As we figured out the story, it became clear we were not beholden to the rules of reality and certain elements could function like a fairytale. This gave us room to play with style and performance.

NFS: This film is so unique in so many ways. Are there any direct inspirations?

PO: In the beginning, we were talking about Bergman’s Cries & Whispers. Then as the shoot progressed, we observed how the film was evolving into something more genre. The idea of Bergman having a film in the Midnight section at a festival got us excited so we kept following that feeling.

CH: We originally thought we were making more of a dark psychosexual comedy of sorts, actually.

NFS: Any advice for filmmakers making something as esoteric as this?

PO: Do your best to not be afraid! Remember there are no rules and the only thing that really matters is if you’re into it.