‘The Willows’ Haunt A New Home, In A Revamped Version Of One Of LA’s Favorite Immersive Shows (The…

Turns out, you can go home again.

My first encounter with the Willows family was all the way back in 2017, when I attended one of the first press runs of the show in its original incarnation. What we found then was the equivalent of an A24 horror movie come to life: a grounded twist on the “creepy family” genre that leaned on psychological strangeness and the committed performances of Just Fix It Productions’ stacked deck of regular players to conjure up something that felt oh-so-wrong and oh-so-right all at the same time.

Flash forward to 2025, with a few more viewings of the show at its original location on subsequent years, and we find the family has moved into new digs. The family is now set up at the iconic Beckett Mansion which has played host to many an immersive production over the years. Unlike the previous venue, JFI has carte blanche inside the space, and that’s led to the show getting a kind of 4K cinematic upgrade, making the 2025 version of The Willows basically the “Remastered Special Edition.”

The best news is that the extraordinary cast driving the more-creepy-than-kooky characters has come along for the ride, keeping the heart of the show intact.

For those unfamiliar with the premise, The Willows finds the audience invited to the titular family’s home for a celebration of life of Jonathan Willows, eldest son of matriarch Rosemary. Each of us knew Jonathan in life, although this always comes as a surprise to guests who haven’t been to the house before, and the family is excited that we’ve come home for dinner.

Well, excited is one word for it.

The family is in full mourning when we arrive, although exactly how that manifests varies with each member of the clan — Jonathan’s widow Claudia is drinking her way through the pain, his sister Angela seems to have regressed to a childlike state (although perhaps this is normal for her), and Cousin Conrad is having some kind of manic episode. The house staff — butler Lindsey and maid Deirdre — are on edge, and only Uncle Ricky, younger brother of Rosemary, seems to have a level head on his shoulders.

And then there is Rosemary, head of the family, whose presence acts as both eye of and source of the storm. Frail of body but stern of spirit, Rosemary Willows still rules her family with an iron will, and that will is extended to the house guests for the evening. The arrival of Mrs. Willows ahead of dinner service remains one of the great set pieces of LA’s immersive theatre scene, simple in its execution but deliciously agonizing in terms of the tension evoked.

To be sure: the actual fare at dinner is simple — the food is not the focus here, but if you like butternut squash and pumpkin soup as much as I do you’ll be happy — and is served largely as a bit of stage business. Don’t come expecting to leave full, but leave a little room for what’s served and to soak up the wine that’s served. The drama kicks in before the full run of dinner can take place, and it’s from that gathering point that the second act of The Willows takes a great leap into the truly strange.

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Where you are seated at dinner determines what you will see next and which characters you’ll interact with, although I found myself surprised at how many times I wound up changing hands. The secrets of the house are revealed bit by bit, and its here that changes from the original version of the show to the “remastered” become apparent.

With JFI having the full run of the Beckett Mansion (check out an upcoming special edition of the NoPro Podcast for more on that) the production design elements — set, lights, and sound — have taken a broad step up from the indie film/interactive theatre vibes present in the original show. At times The Willows started to feel a bit like the old school Delusion, with cinematic moments crafted throughout the space. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the mansion was an early home of Delusion, and helped define immersive horror in LA. The space lends itself well to the effects.

What’s great is that even with the production design upgrade, and those who have been to The Willows more than once may find it almost shocking how much the bar has been raised, the performances of the cast are not buried by the new tech. While the heightened tech leads to a heightened tone, we’re a touch more Blumhouse than A24 now on the horror movie spectrum, we’re still firmly in the worlds that JFI has been building since the early days of Creep LA.

The other thing is that the show really moves. Once upon a time there were sequences in the production that, depending on what track you were on, felt a bit like there were there to kill time and synch everyone up for the next set piece. As far as I can tell, given I haven’t been a part of every track of this “remastered” edition, those roadblocks are gone. What we’re left with is a show that hums like a sports car, giving you just enough time to get your bearings and learn how to handle it before gunning the engine and taking you for a ride.

In the end, the 2025 version of The Willows feels like the ultimate version of the show, a cutting & cool evening of indie horror with a few dashes of camp that keep the night from ever getting too serious. The fun of the melodramatic world of the Willows family is in focus, drawing you deeper into the bizarre logic of the family. All now backed up by a production that blurs the lines between that logic and reality with cinematic panache.

The Willows opens tonight and is currently booking through Dec. 7th. Tickets are $250, with group discounts available.

Check out our 2017 and 2019 reviews of the show.

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