Jeff Baena Wrote a Film Inspired by a Family’s Mental Health Struggles

By indie screenwriter and filmmaker Jeff Brothers‘ passes untimelyfans remember his 2020 movie The Horse’s Daughter — a film inspired by his family’s mental health struggles.

“Alison and I have had family members who have had mental illness, and it was a big influence on working on this,” said Baena, who was married to P.arcs and Leisure a star Aubrey Plaza, to Reddit users ahead of the film’s 2020 release.

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

During the same Reddit Q&A in 2020, Baena explained that his first stepmother experienced “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 Responds to the Death of Frequent Collaborator Jeff Baena

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

“Although we would not consider The Horse’s Daughter to be an activist film, the themes of how we as a society and individuals treat people with mental illness were a major focus and motivation to do this,” the director added at the time.

On Friday, January 3, Plaza’s husband was found deceased in the couple’s residence. According to medical records reviewed by Us WeeklyBaena died by suicide. Nothing extra cause of death or special circumstances related to passing it were listed, and the exam was held on Saturday, January 4.

Plaza has not publicly commented on her husband’s death. A representative for the actress provided a statement to Closing date when she and her family asked for privacy during “this difficult time.”

In the wake of Baena’s death, celebrities and friends alike offered theirs condolences to Plaza via his Instagram. Others shared touching tributes to the filmmaker and screenwriter, who was also known for his work on Life after Beth, To Huckabees Heartand more.

The Horse’s Daughter 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 chat that the film “tapped very real emotions” because of her experience with her grandmother, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“It’s based on my family’s history with mental illness, specifically my grandmother’s schizophrenia,” he said at the time, adding that the film also depicted his “fear of what existed in my DNA.”

Plaza and Baena, who started dating in 2011, kept their relationship relatively private. In 2021, Plaza revealed that she and her husband were married in a private ceremony at their home during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.

“A lot of things happened during COVID for me. Yes, we got married. Big deal,” Plaza recalled during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres show “We got a little bored one night. We are getting married and I will tell you how: Onehourmarriage.com. That’s right, look up.”

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