Livescreamers

**Livescreamers** is a 2023 American screenlife horror film written and directed by Michelle Iannantuono. It serves as a sequel to her 2018 film *Livescream*. The story follows a group of video game content creators—leader Mitch; married couple Taylor and Gwen; LGBTQ+ player Dice; energetic Nintendo fan Zelda; withdrawn Nemo; and Jon, who streams with his friend Davey watching—who are joined by a fan named Lucy, who won a chance to play a haunted multiplayer game. What begins as a lighthearted session turns deadly when a trivia game kills Zelda in real life. The game then exposes secrets: Taylor groomed minors, Mitch covered it up, and the channel is deeply in debt. As characters die, tensions rise over exploited fan ships, misgendering, and parasocial relationships. Nemo reveals a past trauma with a fan who took advantage of his kindness. The survivors learn the game is controlled by a siren and must cut out its heart to escape. Only Lucy and Nemo remain, and the game demands they duel. Nemo refuses, discovering they can burn down the house to free the siren’s victims, though both would die. Before answering, Lucy admits she is the parasocial fan who sought to reconnect with Nemo. Horrified, Nemo kills Lucy before realizing what he has done. The film ends with Nemo as the only survivor as the police approach the studio, with the implication that he will be blamed for all of the deaths. The cast includes Michael Smallwood, Christopher Trindade, Maddox-Julien Slide, Ryan LaPlante, Evan Michael Pearce, and Neoma Sanchez. Iannantuono drew on her own experience as an online public figure, describing the film as a reflection of her life as a creator dealing with invasive dynamics and ethical questions around asking for money. *Livescreamers* premiered at the GenreBlast Film Festival in September 2023, winning the Audience Award, Best Screenplay in a Feature, and Best Ensemble. It also received the George A. Romero Fellowship at Salem Horror Film Festival. It was released on video on demand in the United States and United Kingdom, and worldwide on Blu-ray, by Octopunk Media on September 27, 2024. The film holds a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 11 reviews. Mary Beth McAndrews of *Dread Central* called it "video game horror filmmaking at its finest and most innovative," while Matt Donato of *Bloody Disgusting* praised Iannantuono’s "transfixingly confident"