When the Santa Barbara International Film Festival returns this week, one of its world premieres will feel especially close to home — because it was created here, set here, and packed with familiar faces.

“Relatively Normal,” a dark comedy written and directed by local resident Amy Wendel and produced by Santa Barbara local Jill Levinson and Allison Chase Coleman, will make its world premiere at SBIFF.

The film follows teenager Hannah Glass as she rides out pandemic lockdown under one roof with her family and learns that the real threat isn’t only what’s happening outside the house.

The film is led by spirited young actress Chloe Coleman (“My Spy,” “Dungeons & Dragons,” “Avatar: The Way of Water”), and this marks her first project as an executive producer.

“The film is about a young woman who has to be in lockdown with her family during COVID,” said Wendel. “She knows she’ll survive COVID, but will she survive her crazy family?”

Wendel wrote the script during the pandemic, moved by what she saw happening to teenagers in isolation. As a mom of three sons, she empathized with teens’ loneliness and the way pandemic life disrupted formative experiences.

The story initially began as a narrative podcast — a fast way to “get it on its feet quickly,” she said — but the material kept pulling her toward the screen.

“I love the visual medium,” said Wendel, an award-winning director whose debut feature “Benavides Born” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and theatrically released by Maya Entertainment under the title “All She Can.”

“Film has always spoken to me. There’s something powerful about telling a story in an hour and a half.”

Telling stories is something that Levinson knows a lot about. Her resume includes collaborations with industry giants such as Industrial Light & Magic and LucasFilm, as well as several independent production companies.

She brought in former colleague Allison Chase Coleman, a multiple Emmy Award-winning producer and director with more than 30 years’ experience, and that’s when the alchemy kicked in.

Levinson and Coleman had been circling multiple projects, including one they tried to finance for months. Frustrated with waiting for the traditional greenlight process, the team decided to move forward and make their own opportunity.

“It was really Jill’s drive to put us all together and her determination to spearhead this project that made it happen,” recalled Allison Chase Coleman. “We had Amy’s creative story, and once we got the commitment from lead actress Chloe Colemaneverything just crystallized.”

Coleman brings both gravitas and vulnerability to her character in a role that demands she carry nearly every scene.

Though the production considered filming in Los Angeles, the team said Santa Barbara’s mix of accessibility, quiet streets, and varied neighborhoods gave them what they needed: speed, control, and a community that said yes.

“There’s just so much in Santa Barbara that made this film possible,” said Levinson, noting the local talent pool and a central location in Montecito that gave the production its “home base.” From there, they built a crew and pulled experts from Los Angeles.

That location didn’t just fit the script, it also made the tight schedule possible. After a rapid rewrite period and a sprint of pre-production, “Relatively Normal” was shot in 16 days, then edited in roughly three months.

While the filmmakers cast widely, several key roles went to Santa Barbara talent, including the film’s parents, played by Pamela Dillman and Troy Blendell, both described by Levinson as “major gets.”

The film also features Grant Culling as Hannah’s fast-talking brother, Gabe — a role the women called a leap of faith because, for Culling, this release serves as his film debut. Not every actor could handle the pace of the dialogue, Wendel said, but Culling delivered.

Comedy legend Cheri Steinkellner, best known for work on “Teacher’s Pet” and “Cheers,” plays Mimi, the grandmother, and many other Santa Barbara locals make appearances, especially in background scenes built from family and friends.

The musical soundtrack features local singer-songwriter Emi Grace.

One of the most distinctive elements of the film is a series of art interludes created by teens during the pandemic. This was a creative decision Wendel traced back to a New York Times feature on teen life through COVID-era art.

Those pieces, she said, let the movie keep “bringing the outer COVID world into the film without it being overt,” expanding the story beyond one family and one house.

Even with its humor, “Relatively Normal” is designed to land emotionally and linger. Wendel said she hopes viewers connect with a character or a moment strongly enough that they’re still thinking about it the next day.

Themes include family dysfunction under pressure, learning new ways of communicating when you can’t escape, finding grace with one another, and a pivotal scene that tests character.

For the filmmakers, there’s special satisfaction in debuting at SBIFF.

“We are thrilled to premiere this film in our hometown and so excited to share this with the community who gave us so much support,” said Levinson.

“Relatively Normal” will screen Friday, Feb. 6, at 12 p.m. (Riviera Theatre), Feb. 7 at 9:20 a.m. (SBIFF Film Center), and Feb. 9 at 11:20 a.m. (SBIFF Film Center).

For more information and tickets, visit https://sbiff.org/.