The Matrix Director Lilly Wachowski Exits Trash Mountain

The Matrix co-creator Lilly Wachowski has left the low budget queer comedy Trash Mountain, with Kris Swanberg stepping in as director.

Life comes at you fast. I was literally just scribbling a piece about Lilly Wachowski‘s thoughts on right wing mouth breathers swiping elements of The Matrix while appearing on actor and comedian Caleb Hearon’s podcast, So True. Wachowski was appearing on Hearon’s show partly because she was directing the rising star in Trash Mountain, which Hearon co-wrote with Ruby Caster. And apparently this is no longer the case.

World Of Reel is reporting that Wachowski has left the project, which had already begun principal photography in Chicago. Wachowski has apparently been replaced by mumblecore veteran Kris Swanberg, whose last film was 2020’s I Used To Go Here. No reason has been given.

Co-starring Zooey Deschanel, Kyle Marvin, Jaboukie Young-White, and Jacki Weaver along with Hearon, Trash Mountain was supposed to be Lilly’s solo directing debut. The film concerns a young gay man (Hearon, presumably) who heads back to his childhood home in rural Missouri following the death of his hoarder father.

When announcing the film in 2024, Wachowski enthused, “When my pal Caleb Hearon sent me Trash Mountain I leapt at the chance to direct it. So beautiful and sad and funny!” before going on to note, “Queer representation and stories are vital at this time as we are being shoved further into the margins. Our amazing writers, Caleb and Ruby are a shining light in all this dang darkness.”

Lilly Wachowski’s last feature directing credit was 2015’s Jupiter Ascending, which she co-directed with Lana. Lilly sat out 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections, which Lana directed alone.

At the moment nobody but World Of Reel is reporting this, with every other article citing theirs as the source (including this one – it’s a soulless business when you get right down to it) so there’s a chance this is all conjectural. We’ll see if an official announcement from the production sheds any light on the situation in the coming days.