Tyler-Marie Evans’ feature debut Pretty Babies is a grit-and-glitter story of two young girls determined to make it in Hollywood, following in the steps of their Golden Age role models. Things quickly take a turn for the worse as they road-trip to LA and get caught up in the distinctly unglamorous world of prostitution.
We sat down with Evans to talk about the long development process of this story, how it hooked Ashley Benson and Madelaine Petsch, and the desperate need for beauty in the modern world.
TPM: When did you realise that this story was the one you wanted to be your debut feature?
Evans: It was 2020 and I’d actually written bits and pieces of different feature scripts, but nothing really hit. And then I suddenly had this image in my mind of two girls hitchhiking on the side of this dusty road, and they have sweat-matted hair and glitter stuck on their faces, and they’re dreaming of these old Hollywood movies and thinking, “We have to get to LA”.
From there, I thought, I want to make a movie about these young girls who are obsessed with old Hollywood, think they have to do whatever it takes to get there, and then get lost in the sex work industry.
Every film I’ve ever written, whether it’s a short or feature, has a character being consumed by their dream world, and then they have to face reality. Nothing says that more than those two girls with this dream that they won’t let go of because they believe that they’re made for something bigger.
TPM: Throughout the film, the real-world action is cut together with old Hollywood scenes and really dreamlike sequences. How did you decide when to bring in those other elements?
Evans: From an early stage, Jonathan [Guggenheim, production designer], Lauren [Gutierrez, DP] and I really talked about wanting to show the girls’ points of view, their impressionistic view of the world. In a modern world inundated with images, their reference points are images of grandeur, this old Hollywood dream. Even if it’s a motel room, there’s metallic wallpaper!
Their idea of the world is seen through the lens of old Hollywood. When Marie has her meet-cute, she’s thinking about love and the romances of black and white movies.
When I watch a movie, I don’t want to see scene after scene of reality. I want to be in a character’s dream world and see how they emotionally experience life. Something I really appreciate from the feminine perspective is that emotions hold such a high place in our perception of life.
That’s what I tried to show: the dreaminess of Marie’s emotional highs but also the lows, and how memory and emotions trickle into this false reality. As the audience, you’re wondering what’s real and what’s not, but she doesn’t really know either.
TPM: There’s something of a rejection of modernity by the girls – right at the start, we see their peers vaping before it cuts to them with their cigarettes. You mentioned in a Hollywood Reporter interview that these characters don’t have a culture to hold onto, so they go back to old Hollywood. Do you think there is anything close to that mythology now that people can connect to?
Evans: My parents are from Las Vegas. I have no extended family; I didn’t have holidays growing up with cousins, none of that. I didn’t have a specific culture or family traditions. I felt like there was nothing to grab onto. Then I saw these beautiful old films, and these women who are forces to be reckoned with. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis are these feminine women with powerful voices, and I thought, “You’re my mother, you’re my grandma, I’m claiming you as my family”.
Nowadays we have this social media whirlpool of images that are just images. You look at your phone and think, “That’s life”. I’m so tired of reality TV. I’m so tired of highlighters and like bronzer and Walmart. I don’t want realism, I want magic.
The stars of Pretty Babies have young fans, and I really hope they’re going to watch the film and say, “Wait a second, who’s Rita Hayworth? What’s going on with these films?” I really hope it creates something of a renaissance. We desperately need beauty.
TPM: The two older girls in the film are played by actors most well-known for their work on teen dramas. What was your decision-making process with the casting?
Evans: My plan when I wrote Pretty Babies was like, “I’m going to have a group of unknown girls, I want to show their bruises, I want to show their sweat.” It was very grounded and textured.
[Producer] Jordan Wagner is friends with Ashley [Benson], they’ve known each other for a while. She took a liking to the script, and I remember when he texted me that she was interested in playing the role of Sapphire. I was like, “What, Ashley “Spring Breakers“ Benson? Are you kidding me?” It’s one thing when someone tells you that you need to have a big name to make it work, but she’s a dream.
Madelaine Petsch coming on so early too was amazing. She’s so beautiful and talented; she’s become one of my close friends and an actress who I’m going to work with forever. I’ve just wrapped my second film with her.
TPM: The younger duo have real baby faces, which really emphasises their vulnerability. Was that something you looked for when casting?
Evans: When I was casting the two leads, I knew I wanted them to have big eyes – eyes that saw the world and were so excited about it, ready to take in life. That, to me, is such an incredible image. You don’t want those eyes to find harm; you want them to find beauty and hope.
We had about 2,500 submissions for Luna, known and unknown girls, but everyone was floored by Sadie [Stanley]’s tape. Her portrayal of Luna in the film is something that will stay in my heart, in my soul. And I swear, in those tapes – she was the only one who actually sent in a tape – you can see her relationship with Luna starting.
Emily [Alyn Lind] was the last one to be cast. I met her for lunch, and her eyes are just so big, and she was fidgety in a way that reminded me of a kid. I knew that if we pointed the camera at her, it would be beautiful. There was such an innocence to the way she spoke.
It was a very intense collaboration with her, because she knew that Marie was very much my voice. She put a lot of effort and time and precision into the character. We connected on not wanting Marie to be this boring figure who’s like, “don’t do this, don’t do that”, but a very real, curious and innocent young girl with big ideas and dreams who’s trying to come to terms with her identity.
We were truly like a family. The girls took it so seriously; we always had a feeling of deeper meaning when we were working on this.
TPM: Over the last few years there’s been a lot of conversation around the concept of ‘girlhood’, to the point where it’s been very commodified in some ways. Did that cultural trend influence the production at all?
Evans: It’s taken us long enough to get to everything crazy about girlhood! The women in my life are so important and so special to me. I see so many versions of the world through their eyes, and that’s something I constantly want to explore in film. Every film I do is very female-centric. The next film I’m working on, an erotic thriller, is very much about girlhood, women and their connections. It’s a story I consistently want to tell because I consistently want to hear it.
Identity, the women in your life, sexuality, the role you play: it’s all very connected, and it’s not a wrong conversation to have. To me, sexuality is such a huge part of female identity. I wanted to present it very much from the female gaze.
I don’t see a lot of the female voice in cinema; it’s very few and far between. Even the major films on sex work right now, they’re showing it in a whole new light, which is very interesting, but I’m more interested in it and sexuality through the lens of girlhood. I’m interested in a film that talks to me about my own questions about identity and sexuality: I don’t wanna be a whore, but I don’t wanna be a saint; I don’t know who I am.
TPM: What was the research process for the sex work aspects of this film?
Evans: I began on Reddit boards, reading stories and seeing interviews. Then I went to strip clubs in Los Angeles and New Mexico, which is where we were going to film originally, and I met with strippers and sex workers. I went to Oklahoma before pre-production began and talked to many of them one-on-one. We had actual sex workers in the background of the film; some of it ended up getting cut, but we were very much involved with that community.
Pretty Babies played at the 2026 Edinburgh Film Festival on August 14th, 15th, 16th and has one more screening on the 18th.
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