Tennessee probably makes most people think of country music before horror movies, but our state has provided some memorable places for things to go horribly wrong. Sam Raimi filmed the original The Evil Dead at a cabin in Morristown, while The Curse brought its own brand of rural horror to Tellico Plains. The countryside looks a lot less inviting once a horror filmmaker gets ahold of it.
Whenever I’m looking at cabins around Gatlinburg, I always check how far I’ll be from civilization. If some hellish monster shows up, I’d like to know how far I have to run. So, when a new horror film comes out of Tennessee, it has my attention.
There’s something fun about seeing what filmmakers can do with places that feel close to home. That local connection drew me to Taylor Dupuis’ Where the Hell Is Anna?, which just made its world premiere at the Nashville Film Festival on September 25, 2026.
Where the Hell Is Anna? follows Derick (Taylor Dupuis), a young woman fresh out of a breakup who sets out to find her estranged best friend, Anna (Allison Shrum). Anna has gone on her own journey of self-discovery, joining a community of women at a secluded retreat in the woods. Derick initially wants to bring her home, but with her own life in need of rebuilding, she starts taking part in the group’s teachings and activities.
Everything seems to be going well until the summer solstice approaches, bringing Anna’s graduation from the group. But what should be a celebration takes a frightening turn as lies and a sinister presence threatens the community.
Dupuis leads an incredibly talented cast. Kenzie Wynne, Lauren Whistle, Hope Karwoski and Matthew Crosby help round out an ensemble that has to move between personal struggles, comedy and horror. That’s quite a bit to ask of one movie, and I appreciated the cast’s ability to work within those different moods. Dupuis deserves credit for taking on the writing, directing, producing and the lead performance, particularly in a film that gives her more to do than simply react to the next frightening discovery.
Where the Hell Is Anna? works incredibly well as a story about female empowerment. The women in this community have all experienced abuse or mistreatment from men in their lives, and they draw strength from one another through those shared experiences. Anna came looking to rebuild her life, while Derick primarily came looking for her friend because she needed someone to lean on after her breakup. There’s more to both of their stories, but I’ll leave those discoveries to the movie.
I appreciated how their different needs brought them into this community, where the promise of support and understanding has real appeal. Matthew Crosby’s Benjamin, the only male character given significant focus, becomes an embodiment of the toxic masculinity these women have endured. That gives their desire to support and empower one another a weight that carries beyond the horror.
The Springfield, Tennessee, filming location added another layer to my enjoyment. It’s not far from where I live, and the scenery felt familiar throughout the movie. These weren’t mysterious landscapes that I could only imagine visiting. They looked like the wooded areas and countryside I’m used to seeing around my Tennessee home. That familiarity made the peaceful scenes feel welcoming, but it also made the shift into horror a little more uncomfortable.
It’s harder to put much distance between yourself and a scary movie when the surroundings look like they could be right down the road.
The cinematography makes excellent use of that landscape. A large portion of the movie takes place in well-lit woods that are genuinely beautiful to look at. There’s a peaceful quality to those scenes that makes the retreat’s appeal easy to understand. For a while, the setting looks like somewhere a person could clear their head and take a break from whatever problems they left behind. It helps explain why someone searching for a little direction might be willing to stay.
As the movie progresses, shadows and darkness change the feeling of those same woods. What looked open and inviting begins to feel dangerous, and the scenery that initially put me at ease starts having the opposite effect. I really liked that progression. The film doesn’t need to take us somewhere entirely different to make the setting frightening. It finds that fear in a place we’ve already grown comfortable with. By that point, I’d be checking the route back to civilization again.
The music adds another effective touch through a recurring banjo cue. As it returns throughout the film, it helps build the sense that something is wrong. It reminded me of the signature “ki ki ki, ma ma ma” sound from Friday the 13th, in the way a recurring sound can contribute to the fear. There’s something particularly fitting about hearing a banjo against this rural backdrop, then finding that it’s making those surroundings feel less welcoming. I appreciated how much that small musical detail added to the atmosphere.
There’s also enough comedy to give the movie a sense of fun. The pagan cult elements reminded me of Midsommar, while Derick’s habit of recalling her rules for surviving a cult brought Zombieland to mind. Having those rules pop up on screen is a playful way of letting us follow her thinking, and it gives the film some personality amid the increasingly unsettling events. The laughs aren’t constant, which worked in the movie’s favor for me. They offer a break from the tension without making the danger feel like a joke. That balance helped me enjoy both sides of the film: the growing fear of what might happen and the humor in how Derick tries to navigate it.
I give Where the Hell Is Anna? five out of five stars.
Taylor Dupuis brings together a talented cast, beautiful cinematography and just the right amount of humor in a horror film with a powerful story about women finding strength in one another. Seeing familiar Tennessee scenery become so unsettling made it all the more effective for me.
Between those woods and that recurring banjo, I now have a few more things to think about the next time I book a cabin near Gatlinburg.