JoJo Siwa takes on dramatic role in new horror movie premiering at Tribeca Film Festival

JoJo Siwa is taking a break from her usual antics to star in the forthcoming horror-thriller movie #AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead from Saw 3D writer Marcus Dunstan.

The movie, which is set to have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend, follows a group of college friends who set out on a road trip after scoring tickets to the party of the year: Karmapalooza.

“But a vehicular mishap forces them to spend the night inside an isolated Airbnb, which seems cool enough – after all, where better to party hard than in someone else’s house? Not so fast. Being stuck indoors together causes their internal rifts and shared past to surface,” reads an official logline. “Even worse, an uninvited guest joins the party and decides they need to pay for their transgressions by murdering them in extremely gory ways tied to their specific sins.”

Ahead of the film’s premiere, Siwa shared an exclusive clip with People. In the teaser, the “Karma” singer can be seen running panicked through the woods as an ominous voiceover says: “You may have heard of a person like this before, the friend who got you like no other. The one who was quick to defend. The one who was such a light for others.

“It was an honor when they shared their hurt and their fears. It made you feel special. And it was inevitable someone would be drawn to that light just to destroy it.”

All My Friends Are Dead also stars Jade Pettyjohn (Little Fires Everywhere).

Siwa, 21, who rose to fame as a child during her time on Lifetime’s hit reality series Dance Moms, has previously acted in the 2018 TV movie Blurt as well as in two episodes of the sitcom School of Rock and one episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

She has also voice-acted in several children’s movies and cartoons, including Kung Fu Sock, The Fruitties Are Back and The Angry Birds Movie 2.

In April, upon the release of her new song “Karma,” Siwa controversially rebranded herself into an “edgy” pop star, wearing garish black outfits inspired by the rock band KISS. Shortly after, she faced criticism for claiming to have invented a “new genre” of music called “gay pop.”

Siwa has since clarified her comments, saying that she wasn’t trying to take credit for inventing the “gay pop” genre. Instead, she said she was calling for “gay pop” to become a “literal” category.

“Gay pop is not an official genre of music,” she explained in an interview on SiriusXM’s Hits 1 Miami with Mack & Jen. “If you look on the iTunes charts, there is no, there’s a pop chart.

“Yes, there’s so many gay pop artists. Oh my God. There’s so many,” she acknowledged, “but I think that those gay pop artists do deserve a bigger home than what they have right now.”

#AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead will be released in theaters on August 2, following its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival on June 8.