Adolescence is a difficult time for most everyone, and sometimes kids who have lost their moorings will seek out direction from the unlikeliest sources. Local filmmaker Chad L. Scheifele’s explores this reality in his fascinating debut thriller shot here in the tri-county area, Natural Selection.
The feature follows lost teenager Tyler (Teen Wolf’s Mason Dye) who moves to a new town with his depressed, mother (Blue Bloods’ Amy Carlson), trying in vain to outrun the emotional pain of his father’s suicide. At his new school, Tyler is easy prey for bullies, but he quickly befriends Indrid, a nihilistic peer whose grim outlook on the world comforts and excites Tyler. Though he believes he’s found a kindred spirit, Tyler also begins to fall for Paige (“Shadowhunters’ Katherine McNamara), a relationship that threatens Indrid’s already fragile state. Soon, Indrid’s hatred of the school’s security officer (The Breakfast Club’s Anthony Michael Hall) and his lack of empathy towards other students begins to bubble to the surface. He starts to plan something that will destroy the lives of the everyone in town, and it’s up to Tyler to finally take a stand.
“This story, to me, is about the underlying struggles that some face when making the transition from childhood to adulthood,” says Scheifele, a 2005 graduate of Twin Valley High School. “It’s a critical time in all of our lives and it can be extremely challenging for some people emotionally and psychologically. I was interested in what made people tick and why they made certain decisions. There is no single answer to the problem but I wanted to focus on an aspect of it that is part of the overall issue. I would like to get people talking and hopefully bring more awareness to the issues facing young adults today.”
Scheifele and his producers – West Nantmeal couple Mary Jo Barthmaier and Stuart Connelly (who created 2013’s The Suspect in the area) – spent the summer of 2014 shooting Natural Selection all around northern Chester and Berks counties. The team brought actors in from the West Coast and New York, but the crew was primarily hired from the eastern Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia all the way to Scranton. The production was based in Elverson.
“Chad had a powerful story and a vision for it, and it was easy for us all to get swept up in his passion,” said Connelly, who also plays a small role in the film. After finishing post production in 2015, the movie has made a successful circuit of the film festival world and is now premiering across the country.
“It is not a foregone conclusion that things come together like this,” Scheifele admitted, “with a theatrical release for an independent film. But the story spoke to distribution companies, and they wanted to take the chance with us.”
Connelly said the 18-day July shoot was intense, and it shows on-screen, with breathless performances in lived-in settings, with the area doubling for the fictional Blue Rock, Pennsylvania that could be anywhere in America where trouble teens contemplate violence.
Scheifele agreed. “You don’t have to be from Pennsylvania for this film to resonate with you. You don’t even have to be from America. I’ve screened Natural Selection all over, and the thing I hear time and time again – and it’s chilling – people all know someone they went to school with who could’ve been an Ingrid. I want this film to help people avoid that awful choice, and to help communities all over avoid that kind of fallout.”
Natural Selection released in select U.S. theaters – including Philadelphia’s The Roxy – and on iTunes and VOD starting Friday, Aug. 26 from ITN Distribution. The novel, which Scheifele wrote and based his film upon, is available in paperback through Amazon.
