In the wake of the independent screenwriter and filmmaker Jeff BaenaAfter his untimely death, fans are remembering his 2020 film Horse girl – a film inspired by his family’s mental health struggles.

“Alison and I both had family members who suffered from mental illness and that had a big impact on working on this,” said Baena, who was married to PArks and recreation star Aubrey Plaza, said Reddit users ahead of the film’s release in 2020.

Baena co-wrote the film with the actress and friend Alison Briewho also starred in the film. Baena also served as the film’s director.

During the same Reddit Q&A session in 2020, Baena explained that his first stepmother “had manic depression and was in and out of facilities in Miami due to the Baker Act (5150 California).” Page six first reported.

Related: Alison Brie reacts to the death of her frequent collaborator Jeff Baena

Alison Brie is mourning the loss of her longtime collaborator and friend Jeff Baena. Brie, 42, shared a series of photos of the couple together via her Instagram Stories on Sunday, January 5. In the first picture, Brie smiled as she looked at Baena while he spoke for Horse (…) at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

“Although I wouldn’t consider it Horse girl “In order to be an activist film, the themes of how we as a society and individuals deal with people with mental illness were a primary focus and impetus for this,” the director added at the time.

On Friday, January 3, Plaza’s husband was found dead in the couple’s apartment. According to medical records reviewed by Us weeklyBaena died by suicide. No other causes of death or special circumstances surrounding his death were listed and an examination was conducted on Saturday, January 4th.

Plaza has not publicly commented on her husband’s death. A representative of the actress issued a statement on the matter deadline in which she and her family asked for privacy during “this difficult time.”

After Baena’s death, celebrities and friends publicly expressed their condolences to Plaza via her Instagram. Others shared touching tributes to the filmmaker and screenwriter, who was also known for his work on Life after Beth, I love Huckabeesand more.

Horse girl follows Sarah (Brie), who finds solace in supernatural crime shows and horses, but whose lucid dreams slowly begin to take over her reality. In 2020, Brie revealed in the same Reddit conversation that the film “evoked very real emotions” due to her experience with her grandmother being diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“It’s based on my family’s history of mental illness, particularly my grandmother’s schizophrenia,” she said at the time, adding that the film also shows her “fear of what exists in my DNA.”

Plaza and Baena, who have been together since 2011, kept their relationship relatively private. In 2021, Plaza announced that she and her husband had married in a private ceremony at their home during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

“A lot has happened for me during COVID. Yes, we got married. Big deal,” Plaza recalled during an appearance The Ellen DeGeneres show. “One evening we were a bit bored. We got married and I’ll tell you how: Onehourmarriage.com. This is real, look it up.”

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