You might have come across several references to a supposed 1987 horror movie named Zepotha while scrolling away on TikTok recently.
Despite having never been made, a Mandela effect has taken place, which is when a group has a collective false memory, with thousands convinced that Zepotha was a real production.
But how did this strange internet obsession with Zepotha start?
Here is everything we know.
@emilyjeffri putting this song forward as the movie’s main theme, i think it has zepotha vibes tbh #80s #nostalgia #horror #horrormovie #80shorror #bit #trickster #moohaha #newmusic #queerartist #spooky #zepotha
♬ DO YOU REMEMBER ME - jeffri
How did the Zepotha conversation on TikTok begin?
It all started with content creator Emily Jeffri who wanted to see if she and her followers could convince TikTok users to believe in a movie that doesn’t exist.
In a video, she wrote: “OK so new bit idea: what if we created a fake 80s horror movie called ‘Zepotha’ and started commenting ‘omg u look exactly like that one girl from Zepotha’ or ‘wait, u look exactly like ____ from Zepotha’ on every thirst trap we see.
“Together we will witness new lore develop, main characters will emerge, etc. & we can convince thousands of people that this weirdly titled 80s horror film actually exists.”
The video quickly went viral, attracting 3.6 million views, and people started following her instructions and spreading the word about the made-up film.
@alyssamckayyy my anxiety is peaking rn wtf is zapotha
♬ original sound - ALYSSA MCKAY
TikTok users have been leaving comments on content creators’ pages, telling them they look a lot like a number of fake characters, such as Maxine, Alaine, Cole, Frankie, and Danny.
Some have even gone far enough to create and share fake Zepotha fan art to make it more believable.
that forest scene in zepotha was insane pic.twitter.com/SqvTKWufXB
— PERCY 👻 (@astrogliitch) August 13, 2023
Understandably, those who haven’t seen Emily Jeffri’s video end up believing in the comments and researching the names and the movie to see how they are similar to the characters mentioned.
When their internet search shows no results for Zepotha, some have gone back to TikTok to ask about it and have been told that, given how old the movie is, it is only available on VHS and DVD.
