Chris Marrs Piliero may be best known for his award-winning music videos with artists like Ariana Grande, The Black Keys, and Britney Spears, but with his feature debut Appofeniacs, he’s proven he’s just as bold behind a narrative camera. Premiering at FrightFest 2025, the film is a darkly satirical horror anthology that explores paranoia, technology, and the unnerving ease with which people can be manipulated through deepfakes.
The seeds of the project were planted back in 2018 when Piliero first encountered a deepfake. “I thought, this is very cool… and this is going to be used nefariously,” he recalled. The idea lingered until 2022, when he began writing Appofeniacs, determined to push beyond AI stories about robots and instead examine how technology infiltrates everyday life.
As he told me, Piliero’s influences run deep, from Tarantino and the Coen Brothers to Scorsese and PTA. That DNA is evident in Appofeniacs’ intersecting storylines, sharp dialogue, and characters who feel lived-in even at their most heightened. “I like spending time with characters,” he said, stressing that authenticity in their voices mattered just as much as the chaos around them.
One standout character is Duke, played by Aaron Holliday, who weaponizes deepfake technology for revenge. Piliero grinned when describing him: “I just had fun with him. Writing Duke’s dialogue was some of the most fun I got to have, and Aaron absolutely nailed it.”
Making the film wasn’t easy. Piliero raised the budget independently with help from friends and family, and even used his own home as the set for key sequences. “It’s not ideal, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but you gotta do what you gotta do,” he laughed. That intimacy, though, gave the project an undeniable energy and kept the cast and crew deeply invested.
Piliero didn’t just direct, he also co-composed the score with longtime friend Sean Wing. When the rights to his dream end-credits song fell through, the two simply wrote their own, forming the aptly named Band of Confusion and penning “Eat My Face” to close out the film.
For a filmmaker stepping into features for the first time, Piliero brings a rare blend of visual flair, genre love, and DIY determination. As he put it, his hope is simple: “I hope there are at least a few moments that convey real tension and that people have fun along the way.”
After speaking with him, I can’t help but feel excited to see where his career goes next. Piliero has the instincts, the passion, and the eye for it, and Appofeniacs is only the beginning.
Jessie Hobson