Melissa Barrera starring in horror movie Inhabit

Melissa Barrera has been cast in the horror movie Inhabit.

The 35-year-old actress has signed up to star in the film from writer-director Adam Alleca, which is described as blending "psychological horror with relentless supernatural dread" and offering a "chilling exploration of trauma, motherhood, and the responsibility of unfathomable power".

Inhabit tells the story of a young woman who, following a traumatic event that changes her life, moves into a rundown apartment complex as she looks for a fresh start.

When she's terrorised by bizarre events – unhinged neighbours, uncanny stalkers and unprovoked violence – she starts to believe that she's being targeted by a possessive force that breaks her understanding of reality, a force that can only be overcome by confronting the darkest parts of her own nature.

Alleca said: "True horror means forcing the audience to confront a universal existential fear no one's ever dared to tell a story about before. I've found such a fear in Inhabit.

"My inspirations are the kind of audacious, character-driven thrillers I love, like Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and Get Out. Their innovation is my North Star."

Inhabit is being produced by Ric Roman Waugh, Brendan Boyea and Kenner Bolt for Cinemachine – the production company behind movies such as Shelter and Greenland.

Boyea said: "With Inhabit, Adam has crafted a story that can shatter open the conversation on a subject often considered taboo.

"Driven by his singular vision, it delivers a deeply intimate and extremely unnerving experience. Paired with Melissa's powerful presence, we see this as a film that will resonate on both a visceral and human level, and we're thrilled to be a part of bringing it to life."

Inhabit marks Barrera's first major film project since she was fired from Scream 7 in 2023 for her controversial social media comments about the war in Gaza – with the In the Heights actress confessing that she went through an "identity crisis" at the time.

Melissa – who played the character of Sam Carpenter in the slasher franchise - told Variety: "When, all of a sudden, I found myself in a position where potentially everything could be taken from me and I would never work again, I had an identity crisis.

"I was like, 'I am the actress. What am I without that?' So, I really had to dig in. And I had a lot of people around me like my family — my sisters, my husband, my mother — who were reminding me, 'You’re so much more than that.'

"And after I came out of that hole, I was like, 'You know what? I got to that point in my career because I’m a badass, and I can do that in any industry.

"If I have to change careers and do something else, I know that I will achieve success and be great at what I do.'"