IN CONVERSATION WITH EAMONN HEARNS
With his short film debut, CHIMERA, writer and director Eamonn Hearns immediately proves himself as a talent to keep an eye on in the future. The sixteen minute film, which premiered at this year's London Film Festival, features Ayoola Smart as Hannah, a lab technician who uses her work's DNA database to engineer a “meet-cute” romantic encounter with the man of her dreams. A body-horror twist on romantic comedies, CHIMERA also makes extensive and impressive use of practical effects, a decision that will no doubt cast Hearns in a favourable light with horror fans. Gore In The Store chatted to Eammon about CHIMERA to find out its own genesis, influences and beginning of the film's festival run and his future ambitions.
GORE IN THE STORE - What was the seed of the idea you had for CHIMERA?
EAMONN HEARNS - The original idea for CHIMERA came from a writing exercise I did years ago. I was reading a book of Ray Bradbury short stories, and after each one I'd set a 15 minute timer, and write a response. It didn't have to have anything to do with the story - just whatever came out. There was a character in one of the exercises who was a bit of a loner, and loved books. Time ran out before a proper story was written, but at the bottom I made a note for where the story could go: Eyelash. I came back to the story when I was looking for an idea to apply to the BFI Short Film Fund. I developed that story into a script. It was shortlisted for the fund, but we didn't receive any money. The fact that it was shortlisted gave me the confidence to do something with the script, instead of just sticking it in a drawer.
Is this idea/story something you would like to expand upon in feature length if you were given the chance?
EH - I really love the character of Hannah, and would love to see more of her, but I think the story is self-contained.
How long did the process take from writing to editing?
EH - I probably did that writing exercise about 5 years ago, then applied to the BFI in 2023. I started pre-production for the film around June 2024, we shot in December, and finished post production around the beginning of June 2025.
Without going into spoilers, it was nice to see some practical effects at the climax. Is this something you are passionate about and want to keep pursuing in the future?
EH - I love practical effects, and will keep using them. I'm passionate about all aspects of craft in film, and in this case practical effects were the best way to go. I'm not against VFX though! You have to use the best tool for the job. VFX is just another tool in the toolkit. We used VFX and animation in this film, but we combine them with practical effects in the right way so it's seamless. We had incredible artists in each of the departments.
In regards to the body horror elements, is this a particular area of interest you wish to explore further?
EH - I've always liked body horror, and saw THE FLY over and over when I was probably way too young. Apart from all the amazing practical effects, it's a great love story, and the ending is so heartbreaking. That was a big influence on CHIMERA, as well as ANNIE HALL and WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. I'm open to exploring body horror more in the future if those types of images come to me. I'm a big HP Lovecraft fan, so I think that seeps into my writing.
What are your future plans?
EH - I'm writing a feature script at the moment, which definitely does have body horror elements to it. It's at the delicate early stages though so I'll keep the details to myself for now.
Where will the film be shown in the future?
EH - We're only at the beginning of our festival journey right now. CHIMERA has played at Screamfest LA and BFI London Film Festival. I didn't go to Screamfest because it overlapped with LFF, so I'm really looking forward to travelling with the film to some genre festivals over the next couple of years. It's great for the film, of course, but I just want to go and have the craic with other genre fans and filmmakers.
Iain MacLeod
CHIMERA has recently begun its festival run. Details available on the films Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/chimera_a_short_film/