Sun Choke, a new thriller about a woman who becomes obsessed with a stranger as she attempts to recover from a violent psychotic break, opens in theaters this Friday (and is currently available on iTunes and VOD). The film’s director Ben Cresciman took some time to chat with me ahead of the film’s release.

Bloody Disgusting: Sun Choke deals with mental health. Where did this inspiration for this story come from? Has mental health always been a subject you’ve had interest in?

Ben Cresciman: I’d say it’s less an interest in mental health, than mental states. Mental health presupposes a binary of good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, that I felt it was important to stay away from. I think that Janie, in the moments she appears most unwell, are the in fact moments she feels most like herself. I’ve always been interested in people struggling at the margins of personality and society, clawing and fighting to find space for themselves in the center.

BD: I’ve yet to see Sun Choke yet but it looks incredible and the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. As the writer/director, what is it like to see these positive reviews and comments rolling in?

BC: It’s tremendously validating to see people connecting to the film; feeling disturbed and intrigued and moved in all the ways we’d hoped when we were making it.

BD: This is your second feature now. Was there anything different about this second time around?  Was it easier at all or still just as hard to make a feature film?

BC: Everything. Bigger budget, more challenging schedule, higher stakes. My first film was in many ways an experiment in – can I make a film? There were no specific expectations. Hopes and dreams certainly, but it was primarily about the process. The second time around I was making this film. It wasn’t just about process, but product as well.

Having made one film already, I did have an inkling of who I’m becoming as a filmmaker, and that basic sense of – well, I did it once, I can do it again. Beyond that, it was harder in every conceivable way. But the challenge is half the fun.

BD: Barbara Crampton is a legend. What was it like to work with her?

BC: Fantastic. Barbara is most definitely a legend, and more crucially, she’s an immensely talented, committed, and generous collaborator. There’s a lot to balance in this role, and Barbara really understood all the contradictions that made up the fabric of this bizarre personality. She was able to articulate the truth of the character, and leaves it up to the audience to make their own decisions about whether or not she’s really the villain of the story. One brief anecdote. We were shooting a very quiet, emotional scene between Barbara and Sarah Hagan, and first take, after we cut, you could hear a pin drop. I looked around to see at least two crew members with tears in their eyes. It was incredible. We didn’t need to, but we did a second take for safety. And that’s the take we used in the film, because it was even better.

BD: When audiences sit down to watch Sun Choke, what do you hope they take away from the viewing?

BC: It’s hard to know where to begin, because I’ve learned and taken so much from the experience of making the film. I’m so proud of the work of my collaborators, and I think most of the big take aways are rooted in their contributions. Sarah Hagan’s masterful balance of intimacy and insanity in the lead role; Barbara Crampton as I don’t think anyone has ever seen her before; Mathew Rudenberg’s beautiful and bracing cinematography; or Bryan Hollon’s exquisitely terrifying original score. I could go on and on, but those are just a few of things I continue to take away from Sun Choke, and the experience of making it.