The supernatural teen comedy Darby and the Dead follows high schooler Darby Harper (Riele Downs), as she juggles the ability to see dead people with trying to live her own life. Helping lonely spirits clear up their unfinished business can be challenging to juggle with homework or explain to friends, so Darby has become an introvert who’s unconcerned with popularity. But then, Queen Bee Capri (Auli’i Cravalho) dies in a most unexpected freak hair straightening accident, making it her mission from the other side to force Darby to really start living again.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, director Silas Howard talked about the joy of getting to work in different genres, how the film evolved as they worked on the script, the challenge of making death by electrocution funny, bringing queerness to this world, the desire to do a sequel, and what it would be like to see dead people in real life.

Collider: Your work as a filmmaker has really been all over the map, in film and TV, and in a variety of genres. Has that been very intentional? Has that been something that you’ve very clearly sought out to do, or do you just feel like you’re lucky to have this very eclectic path?

SILAS HOWARD: Yeah, I feel very lucky. It’s such a joy to get to jump into different genres. For me, no matter what the style is, I’m always looking at similar themes, which is usually something about a friendship and something about a transformative power of something like loss. I love comedy in my drama, and drama in my comedy. I really like to have them mixed together.

You signed on to direct this in 2019, and it’s taken three years now to get this out to audiences. What were the biggest changes made to the script, the story and these characters, before you actually shot it?

HOWARD: Wenonah [Wilms], the original writer, delivered such an original premise, that had a lot of heart and also a lot of edge to it, which was even more edge than we were able to retain or decided to. Then, Becca [Greene] brought it home with us. She’s just phenomenal, and so fast and fast-witted, but there’s always an intelligence behind all of it. Even if somebody’s acting dumb, there’s something really smart going on.

The development was about a year and a half, at least, of working on it. I hired the writers with Footprint Films and worked with them. They paid for them, but we both hired them. And then, we took it out to Hulu and a couple other places, and we got some strong interest. Hulu was definitely the one to go with. They connected so personally to it, as well as just had a love for it. I couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Steve and Sarah with Hulu and 20th Century.

Death by electrocution is not a really lighthearted subject. How did you still make that funny? What was the challenge of keeping that funny?

HOWARD: That was the challenge. We knew we had to get a laugh. This is a movie where I had to have a chuckle at the funeral and a laugh at the electrocution scene, which is a tall order. Because the movie has heart, that’s what enabled us to do that. If it was just cold, I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t really be able to. I’m all about having heart in projects. Ultimately, this has so much heart. I think it’s a comedy about the unexpected, and people laugh when they’re uncomfortable. It was a collaboration, like the whole process was. Auli’i is great with physical comedy. Just her falling is funny. I kept laughing, every time. She was just so good. It was thought about a lot, and it was a lot about what we had in the frame and what we didn’t.

You’ve been open about being trans, and you have a trans actress in this ensemble, with the fantastically talented Nicole Maines. Is that something that you wanted to make sure you brought to a film set in high school, in particular, and do so in a way where it doesn’t make a big deal of it?

HOWARD: Yeah. Thank you for asking. I think of the world as so queer, in terms of my definition of it, not necessarily a sexual identity, but just an approach. I love this generation. I feel like, as a trans person in their 50s, they really are inherently grasping things where I was in a world that was trying to get people to understand.

Nicole’s character was added later and actually came up through a conversation of like, “Oh, where’s the queer kid in the pack?” Nicole’s role came out of a deep love for her audition and adding to the mean girl’s friends. The studio really supported that, and the producers really supported that. When I talked to Nicole, I was like, “Oh, your character is queer.” And then, we talked about whether or not her character was out. It was really fun to have us get to make that decision. It’s a rare moment when that happens. We got to find it together because we had built some trust. I felt like we got to try some things out and see what worked or not. It just ended up so perfect, with the question about, “Do you have a tampon?,” and her response of, “Still trans,” and them going, “Oh, yeah, that’s right.” Kylie [Liya Page] was like, “Is that offensive, if I forget?” And Nicole and I were like, “No, that’s great. That means she’s passing.” I love that it’s there, but not the point. Everybody brought their own lens, and that was really an added benefit.

I would definitely be up for a sequel, especially after what we learn about Alex, by the end of the film. Have you thought about that at all? Is that something you’d want to not only see, but is that something you’d want to do?

HOWARD: Absolutely. Even the original script had an open ending. There’s just a lot more fun to be had. So, yeah, I absolutely have thought about it and would love to do it.

How would you react, if you suddenly found yourself in the situation that Darby is in? Would you be helpful and want to help all of the ghosts? Would you want it to stop? Would you hope that there was another person out there who also saw them, that could help you out?

HOWARD: I’m jealous of Darby. I’d love to talk to dead people, if I could. I try to. I love a psychic, I won’t lie. I have definitely consulted with a psychic, here and there. I think I would like it. I do love the idea that, if you don’t resolve your issues in this life, you could carry them to the next life. Talk about motivational therapy to just clear everything up, so you can have a fresh start.

With this film, you’re balancing grief and loss with comedy. What did you use as your guide? How did you ensure that you kept that grief present while not making it the only thing present?

HOWARD: Just personal experience, having gone through difficult things and having friends that have gallows humor, and that being a relief. Only the closest friend could say the most gallows humor, in the face of a really big loss. It’s just the strongest connection, when it happens. I feel like it’s been such a way to prevail. Life is absurd, and it happens to all of us. The more we can connect around that absurdity, the better.

Darby and the Dead is available to stream at Hulu.