Upamanyu Biswas
In the fifth episode of ‘The Studio,‘ producers Quinn Hackett and Sal Saperstein get drawn into an internal feud revolving around the development of a new slasher-horror movie known as ‘Wink.’ The project becomes the topic of a hot debate as both Quinn and Sal present their own director choices to Matt, the head of Continental Studios, hoping that their suggestions are approved before the other. While it leads to a series of amusing situations, the episode highlights the ego battles within Hollywood and the precarious nature of filmmaking, especially as producers go head-to-head in a battle of wits to have their decisions fast-tracked in exchange for further influence. Meanwhile, ‘Wink’ remains at the center of all this drama, inciting people to go to war over a seemingly innocuous slasher remake.
Wink is a Fictional Movie Trapped in Production Issues
While ‘Wink’ is seemingly pitched as a low-budget horror movie, the film is a fictional project brought to life by the show’s writer Frida Perez. It is described as a “rip-off/remake” of Parker Finn’s 2022 horror movie ‘Smile’ and its sequel, ‘Smile 2.’ Incidentally, Parker Finn also makes an appearance within the episode as a potential director choice for ‘Wink.’ This cameo role adds a layer of realism to the whole piece, making it harder to tell whether the movie is real or not. However, it is fictional, which is the modus operandi of ‘The Studio.’ As the show primarily unfolds in a zone of fake realism, its real-life references are cleverly installed to bamboozle audiences and leave them feeling like they are inhabiting a world of Hollywood that feels distinctly like the real one, even though it is mostly fictional.
One of the attention-grabbing aspects of ‘Smile’ is how it utilizes an everyday social expression of happiness – smiling – to dial up the creepy factor. The movie’s protagonist, Rose Cotter, comes across numerous weird encounters where people smile at her uncannily, which is part of the movie’s horror premise. To that end, ‘Wink’ centers on a similar catch, likely using the idea of a human wink to capture something terrifying and weirdly unsettling. However, it is heavily exaggerated for comedic and satirical effect in the episode. Quinn and Sal are desperate to make their mark on the film through their director choices. Sal picks Parker Finn as his director candidate, the man behind ‘Smile,’ while Quinn backs Owen Kline, the director of ‘Funny Pages.’
Thus, ‘Wink’ serves a specific narrative purpose within the episode, which is to showcase the professional battles between producers as they try to back their ideas over one another in highly toxic ways. When Sal disrespects Quinn’s input into the story, the latter sabotages her senior, leaving him scrambling for a way out of his problem. This battle of wills continues throughout the episode as both Sal and Quinn are desperate to be the one leading ‘Wink.’ It eventually escalates into a terrible accident that nearly costs lives, depicting the silly and petty nature of the conflict and how it spirals out of proportion. As such, the fictional movie plays a prominent role in the story, serving as a catalyst for drama, conflict, and an insightful journey into Hollywood’s fragile underbelly.
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