As part of VTIFF’s ongoing “Queer Coming-Out Stories,” Emoji Nightmare presents this 2004 comedy, which offers a set-up along the lines of: what if Heathers or Mean Girls took place a Christian school? When Mary (Jena Malone), a Christian high-school student, attempts to ‘cure’ her friend of his homosexuality, it backfires and she ends up pregnant. This satire has some pointed things to say about organized religion and hypocrisy, but its essential point is that we’re actually not all that different, and, as screenwriter Michael Urban said, “The film is about how having a crisis of faith is really the only way to affirm one’s faith.” This one has quite the cast with Macaulay Culkin, Heather Matarazzo, Eva Amurri, plus a scene-stealing turn from Mandy Moore as the loudest worshipper in school (in a role originally intended for Anne Hathaway). Critic Michael Sragow said “Saved! is the audacious feel-good satire of 2004.”
Emoji Nightmare (Justin Marsh) has been performing across Vermont and the region since 2015 and is one of the state’s leading drag entertainers. She has hosted, performed in, and/or produced several major events over the past decade, including New Queers Eve, Pride Ball, First Friday, Glitter & Duct Tape, The Vermont Pride Festival, Paint: A Drag Cabaret, Queen City Drag Cabaret, Queer Pop-Up Dance Party, and SASS. She is a frequent guest on Amber Live! and a multi-year nominee for Seven Days’ annual Daysies Awards for Best Drag Performer in Vermont.