Empathy is an important theme in Eat Me, as the home invasion subject matter could easily turn exploitative. Wright took a big risk by passing up early opportunities to sell her script. “I had opportunities to do it early on in different ways and knew that in the wrong hands, it could be very exploitative,” adding that “it just would have crushed me” to see her story taken in that direction. Instead, she demonstrated confidence and courage, remembering that the story was, in her words, “small enough” to film independently. “So I just held onto it,” she says, “until just the right situation came along and I felt incredibly safe.”

“So much of what I’m always seeking is that humanity in everything, and empathy where it’s hard to generate.”

Safety is also a recurring theme for Wright. She’s extremely protective of her story and the subject matter it revolves around. Being very close to the director and the entire crew was important for Wright. “There are so many people who deal with depression, who deal with assault. I wanted, to the best of my ability, to be sensitive and to honor that as best I could.” Having a crew on board was important to her, as she explained, “everybody understood what the film was, and kind of understood the responsibility of it.”