Hi, I’m Samara! I also go by Sam Violet. I’m an illustrator and I work in a variety of mediums. I love using bright colors in my work and I’m largely inspired by horror and Halloween. In incorporating supernatural elements into my work, I aim to create art that is both fun for viewers to look at and fun for me to make.

Us is a horror movie about a woman named Adelaide who grapples with her traumatic past as she and her family are confronted by their doppelgängers. I chose this movie because I’m a huge fan of Jordan Peele’s movies and Us is one of my favorites. I think it’s an exemplary work of horror as social commentary about privilege and power. The writing is incredible, and I love rewatching this movie to find all the details I missed. For my poster, I wanted to focus on the symbolism in the movie (big spoilers ahead!). The bunnies were eaten raw as the main food source for the Tethered living underground, while the humans they were connected to ate real food. I believe the bunnies are a symbol of the cruelty the Tethered were forced to endure as well as the inequality between them and the people living above ground. In addition, Red carries scissors throughout the movie, so in my poster I paired her scissors with the bunny to symbolize her mission to cut the bonds between the humans and the Tethered.

Samara had a hard time picking only four favorite films, but ultimately went with Hereditary, Megamind, Across the Spiderverse, and Love Lies Bleeding. You can view Samara's portfolio at samvioletillustration.com