Adult Animation Revolution: ‘Hell Followed With Us’ To Become Animated Feature Film
by Tito W. James
Hell Followed With Us is a genre-bending Young Adult novel by Andrew Joseph White. The book is being developed into a feature film animated by Powerhouse Animation Studios (Castlevania: Nocturne) and produced by writer/director Lilly Wachowski (The Matrix).
“Hell Followed With Us tells the story of transgender teen Benji, on the run from the fundamentalist cult that unleashed Armageddon, but not before the cult infected him with a bioweapon that will transform him into a rotting beast — and wipe out what’s left of humanity. Benji teams up with a found family of teenagers holed up in an LGBTQ+ youth center for survival.”
White had this to say:
From working with queer and neurodivergent artists to tackling the book’s hardest topics with enthusiasm, the production team has such an amazing vision for Hell Followed With Us. I can’t wait to bring the book’s rage at a transphobic world to a new audience, right when we need it.
A Hell Followed With Us feature film would be groundbreaking in its exploration of mature themes with openly queer characters. I really hope this film gets a theatrical release because it would be a huge milestone for 2D animated feature films. We’ve had mega-hits like Arcane and Hazbin Hotel that proved that audiences of all stripes are open to queer protagonists in big genre fiction. I have my fingers crossed that Hell Followed With Us makes a splash in theaters.
