SDCC 2024: The Tower

September 11, 2024

by G. E. Uke, Reporter

The naming of a movie is extremely important. This cannot be overstressed. It’s much like designing a book cover or determining the name of a restaurant. It communicates a great deal about the tone of the film, and what the viewer can expect when they see it. When I was asked to cover “The Tower” at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the first thing that popped in my head was The Dark Tower series. I expected something ominous, or maybe political. But the truth was much better, as this was a completely different project.

The Tower is literally a water tower, located in the sort of small, backwater, midwest town that ambitious souls are often eager to leave. And that’s exactly what this movie is about: a young man wishing he could go somewhere else and experience more of life. His goal is frustrated by a number of things: money, fear, lack of knowledge, self-esteem, apathy, a local bully, and so forth. But that’s not what makes the movie truly interesting. What makes it interesting is that the water tower in the middle of town, for some reason, has a MERMAID in it.

And I don’t mean an “Ariel” or “My Little Pony” mermaid. I mean an alien, fey, supernatural being that lures sailors to their doom and eats them. That’s right: this is a horror movie. The mermaid is played by Bella Thorne (The Babysitter, Midnight Sun, Divinity) who is known for her “sinister” and “attractive” roles. Do I want to see her eat people in a water tower with a fish tail suit covering her legs? Yes. Yes I do. Quite a bit, in fact.

Although Bella Thorne was not present at SDCC, I did get to meet Jack Kilmer (Teddy from Palo Alto) and Cam Gigandet (Till Death Do Us Part and 9 Bullets), and what I took away made me very excited to see this movie when it comes out. When you meet an actor face to face for the first time you never know what you’re going to get. I’m pleased to say both Jack and Cam are tremendously fun guys. Jack plays the main protagonist of the movie, and Cam plays…you guessed it: the villain. Some actors just have a certain “look” to them that naturally predisposes them to certain roles. Anthony Hopkins, for example, is the quintessential mafia boss slash evil businessman. Jack has a fresh-faced look that implies a level of naivety and sincerity, but in person he’s very witty. Meanwhile, Cam’s expression and demeanor screams “Sinister Tyler Durton from Fight Club”, and he knows it. But in person he’s hilarious. It was probably one of the best interviews I’ve conducted all year.

I don’t want to include any spoilers (I did get a handful), but this movie sounds like it will be great fun to watch. It isn’t a big budget film with flashy special effects: it’s the story of a young man looking for freedom and the opportunity to change his life…with an implausible supernatural creature stuffed into a water tower throwing the whole thing into stark relief. And that is a fun enough concept that I think this will be one of my favorites.

Special thanks to Legion M for providing the photos below: