SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Abigail. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!
The love that filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have for Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson is well-established. Following the references to the comedy series the filmmakers included in Scream VI (including a cameo by Robinson himself), they went as far as to let one particular sketch influence the hairstyle sported by Dan Stevens’ character in Abigail.
Recognizing this, you’d understandably think that the title of the show being namedropped at the end of their new vampire ballerina movie is also a special nod… but you’d be wrong. It turns out that its inclusion was entirely subconscious and not recognized by the directors as an easter egg until they rewatched the scene in post-production.
The scene in question features Abigail’s father a.k.a. Dracula (Matthew Goode) choosing to let Joey (Melissa Barrera) live, and he dismisses her from his estate by saying, “I think you should leave.” Fully believing that this was an intentional nod to the Netflix comedy series, I asked Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett about the line during the Los Angeles press day last week, and they explained that it wasn’t intended to be an easter egg. Laughing, Bettinelli-Olpin explained,
Gonna be honest with you: that was not intentional. That line got made up on set and on the day when we were kind of trying to figure out how to end a scene. And it was not until we were in the edit that we were like, we were like, 'Hey!'
Or as Tyler Gillett put it,
'Oh, well this has gotta stick around.'
Just because it wasn’t a purposeful reference to one of their favorite shows doesn’t mean that it wasn’t still an expression of love, however. I asked the duo if they felt that the “I think you should leave” line was at least a subconscious inclusion, and they have no doubt. Said Matt Bettinelli-Olpin,
One hundred percent. No question.
It’s certainly not uncommon for artists to unconsciously include references to their favorite works in their creative endeavors – from bits of production design to particular camera angles – but this is definitely a funny and unique circumstance.
Starring Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir and Giancarlo Esposito in addition to the aforementioned Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens and Matthew Good, Abigail is now playing in theaters everywhere – having earned acclaim from critics in the run-up to its release, including a four-star review from CinemaBlend’s Mike Reyes. Thanks to the gallons upon gallons of blood and gore, it’s a movie that’s certainly going to be fun to watch over and over, especially with a large crowd.
