Directors Chris Miller & Phil Lord are busy guys. They’ve been one of the most consistent duos in Hollywood since their mainstream kickoff with 2012’s 21 Jump Street. Since then, they’ve directed, produced and written popular titles like 22 Jump Street, The Lego Movie franchise, the Spider-verse franchise, and most recently, Netflix’s The Mitchells Vs. The Machines.
So what’s next for them? Viewers will have to tune into AppleTV+ to catch their newest title The Afterparty. The series is a murder mystery based at a high school reunion, featuring heavyweight comedic actors such as Tiffany Haddish, Dave Franco and Ike Barinholtz.
Lord and Miller were inspired by the blueprint to all murder mysteries, with a little bit of Akira Kurosawa.
Miller & Lord’s Whodunnit
“I’ve always been a huge fan of murder mysteries,” said Miller. “Reading all the Agatha Christie books, watching Columbo, and as a kid I watched the movie Clue many, many times on the worn VHS copy. So I’ve always been interested in the genre ‘cause I think there’s something just innately interesting about the human curiosity of something that has life and death stakes and has this idea to make a murder mystery in a sort of Rashomon way but as a comedy.”
The Afterparty was originally intended to be a feature film written by Miller until they became preoccupied with other aforementioned projects. The time away from the story allowed the directors to realize that perhaps a film wasn’t the ideal format.
“Eventually we had a moment, I realized it would work better as a series because you could really have the time to dig into each character and give them their own episode and really get to know them as a complex character instead of just breezing through them as quickly as you’d have to do in a movie. And I think it was the thing that really unlocked it into being its best self,” said Miller.
The Cast
Notable whodunnits often have the luxury of a stellar cast. A recent example would be Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. Lord gushes about the cast he and Miller worked with.
“I think when people hear the idea of every episode is going to delve into a different character in a different cinematic style, obviously everyone’s excited about that,” said Lord. “As actors, it means they get a chance to really flesh out their character. These guys are so smart and funny, and lovely together. They all have all the moves.”
Lord specifically highlights Haddish when boasting about the cast.
“Tiffany is hilarious but she’s also a great actor, and she’s warm, and you want to be her best friend. I think that’s what makes her so pleasing on screen. I remember talking to Tiffany, I was at my parents’ house over some holiday, and I just remember saying, this is a show where you can do all your moves. Where you can be a complete character, and be hilarious, but also be that person where I can tell she’s smarter than everybody.”
The Reunion
High school reunions may not be the most sought-after place for many people. Buries memories, old relationships and cringe reminders of the twilight teen years are good enough reasons for one to not go.
These also make for the perfect setup for a murder mystery. Miller reflects on his high school reunion experience and connects it to why they chose that backdrop for the story.
“They are, like, emotional experiences, so it seemed like the perfect place to set a murder mystery because you kind of, like, reverting to your old self and old dynamics and bringing up a lot of regrets and that sort of thing so it seemed like a great place to set a murder mystery.”
