INDIANAPOLIS — It seems only appropriate for murder mystery films and TV shows to assemble all-star casts these days — and "Reunion" is no different.
The 90-minute film takes place as a group of people attend their 20-year high school reunion, but the festivities are cut short when one of their classmates is murdered. And the killer is amongst them because they're snowed in!
Check out this cast:
- Lil Rel Howery ("Get Out," "Vacation Friends")
- Nina Dobrev ("The Vampire Diaries," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower")
- Billy Magnussen ("Game Night," "Road House")
- Jillian Bell ("22 Jump Street," "Brittany Runs a Marathon")
- Chace Crawford ("Gossip Girl," "The Boys")
- Jamie Chung ("The Hangover Part II," "Grown Ups")
- Michael Hitchcock (writer for "MADtv," "Glee")
"It's just really funny. It's probably one of the funnier murder mysteries you've seen in a long time," Howery said. "(The cast) really got along really well. When you have that type of chemistry on- and off-camera, it's literally so much fun."
With most of these actors in their mid-30s to mid-40s, where does 65-year-old Hitchcock's character fit in?
"Believe it or not, I play the youngest of everyone...no I don't," Hitchcock joked. "I play their teacher, and it's the 20-year reunion, and I show up at the party, and no one can quite understand why I'm there because everyone hates me and hated me back then."
The obvious comparisons come into play with the "Knives Out" films, Hercule Poirot movies and "The Afterparty" series, but "Reunion" doesn't take itself too seriously, with comedic moments sprinkled throughout.
"We wanted to make something that stood on its own, yet paid an homage to the whodunnit genre," Dobrev said. "'Knives Out' is a big more subtle — we're a bit more of a broad comedy."
Director Chris Nelson ("The Perfect Date") said he was nervous at first while making the film as "Knives Out" and "The Afterparty" were coming out, but his thinking quickly changed.
"In a lot of ways, we're very different from all of those movies (and TV shows). I think audiences have really discovered it as a genre and subgenre, and they love them," Nelson said. "I couldn't be more thrilled about the timing of it, and I think it's the type of movie that everybody needs to see right now. It's fun, it's got a lot of life to it, and we need more of that in our lives right now."
"Reunion" is available to buy or rent on all digital platforms Friday, June 28.