John Marvel McCarthy used a pair of size 10 hand-painted athletic shoes as the super-powered footwear in his 2023 movie, “Super Thrift.”
The shoes are only in one scene in McCarthy’s new short film, “Super Thrift 2,” but clothes with superpowers are still the focus of the movie that premiers at 7 p.m. on August 20th at Malco Studio on the Square.
McCarthy, 21, did a lot of walking in Memphis in 2024 to make the new film. But he also did a lot of walking in Chicago, Chattanooga, and Knoxville — all places where the movie was shot.
The first movie was “basically just four friends kind of reconnecting through the superpowered clothes they find in the thrift store,” McCarthy says. “It’s their adventure of reconnecting as they also teach themselves how to use the superpower clothes.”
The new movie, which features the same cast as well as new members, “kind of picks up in this world where super power clothes are readily available and causing a lot of havoc.”
It opens with Deebo (Chris Bailey) visiting his brother Ron (Ronald Rodgers), who is in a coma in hospice. Deebo sets out to find clothes that have the power of healing. The movie “follows his journey as he gets help from the team as he zips around,” says McCarthy.
But finding someone who can make this type of superpower clothing isn’t easy. A lot of mystery and intrigue is stitched into the quest. Deebo uncovers the syndicate responsible for creating the magic garments. Some of the clothes makers are good; some are evil.
McCarthy began writing the sequel as soon as his first movie was released. “I guess once I had a world built in my head, I could just play and start adding to it whenever I want.”
McCarthy says he used locations outside of Memphis because he was friends with people who lived there. “Pretty much what we would do is plan out these car trips and pile whoever actors needed to be there.”
McCarthy wrote, produced, filmed, edited, and directed the movie. He even designed the visual effects, using resources from the University of Memphis, where he is majoring in photography. “I worked my ass off to make sure everyone had really cool superpowers that looked magical. Not some dude in front of a green screen.”
A surprise “Super Thrift 2” cast member is Ben Smith, chef/owner of Tsunami restaurant. He plays “The Master Crafter,” who teaches people how to make superpower clothes.
“I used to work at Tsunami when I was 17,” McCarthy says. “So I’d already known him.”
And Smith is also the father of Ayden-Couch Smith, who plays “Ayden.”
McCarthy needed someone who wasn’t his age to take on the role. “I don’t think he’d ever acted before, and I was nervous to ask.”
Smith quickly accepted, and he was “a great actor.” He also was a perfectionist. McCarthy would tell him, “You delivered the line great. You were standing on your mark.”
But Smith wouldn’t be satisfied. “No, that was absolute garbage. We have to redo it again!”
As for future projects, McCarthy would love to make a “Super Thrift 3.” He’s already written the script, but getting the same cast together again would be difficult. “Everyone has got their own lives. And we just don’t have enough money for blowing people’s socks off with the resources we’ve got.”
He also is working on an unrelated movie, SIGIL, which is “about the Memphis rap scene in the ’90s and its connection with a lot of Satanic stuff. In the ’90s Memphis rappers would sample horror movies and snuff films and things like that. Make it sound like somebody getting chased or murdered in the song.”
But, according to urban legend, some people thought rappers actually killed someone or shot video of them killing someone, then sampled that in their music. “So I kind of took the idea of that urban legend and said, ‘What if a rap group actually killed someone and put it into their song? But that person came back from the dead and killed them all or got vengeance on them all?’”
McCarthy’s father, filmmaker/artist Mike McCarthy, whose movies include Teenage Tupelo and Cigarette Girl, was in the first “Super Thrift” movie, but not in the sequel. “My dad didn’t return, but the flashback at the beginning is supposed to be him as a child.”
John did use his dad and his sister Hanna as a test audience while he was making the movie. They offered advice, which he sometimes took and sometimes didn’t.
Teenage Tupelo, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, also will be shown with “Super Thrift 2” on August 20th.
John wants to eventually make feature-length films professionally. “That is pretty much my dream. I’ve always loved being able to tell stories.”
Being raised around his dad, who is always working with artists and people involved in filmmaking, was an advantage. “I’ve been around that my entire life. I can’t help but want to create something on my own. I’ve always had a big imagination. It’s kind of hard to turn that off.
“And with that need to create, my dream is to have enough people by my side who think my ideas are worth creating. It takes a village to make a movie.”
“Super Thrift 2” and Teenage Tupelo will screen at 7 p.m. on August 20th at Malco Studio on the Square.
