IFC Midnight announced that it is acquiring North American rights to Kindred, directed by Joe Marcantonio and produced by Dominic Norris & Jack Lowden of Reiver Pictures. Kindred explores themes of control and a young woman’s struggle with the slow breakdown of her own sense of reality in this twisted psychological drama, with a screenplay by Marcantonio and Jason McColgan. The film stars a breakout performance by Tamara Lawrance (The Long Song), Jack Lowden (Dunkirk), Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve), and Edward Holcroft (Kingsman). John Keville and Morgan Bushe of Fastnet Films serve as executive producers alongside Norman Merry and Peter Hampden of Lipsync Productions, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross of Head Gear Films, Serotonin Films and Gareth Wiley.
IFC Midnight will release the film on November 6th, 2020.
When her boyfriend, Ben, suddenly dies in an accident, mother-to-be Charlotte collapses upon receiving the news. She wakes up in Ben’s family home, a crumbling old manor house in the middle of nowhere with Ben’s overbearing mother, Margaret, and his controlling stepbrother, Thomas. They are determined to care for her, at least until the baby arrives. Grief stricken and increasingly haunted by visions possibly brought on by the pregnancy, Charlotte accepts their help. But as the days go by, she begins to doubt their intentions and her suspicions grow. Are they drugging her and keeping her captive, with the aim of taking her unborn baby? As her visions intensify and the haze of lies grows, Charlotte decides that her only option is to break free from this family once and for all – but at what cost?
Arianna Bocco, EVP of Acquisitions and Productions of IFC Films said, “Kindred is a discovery with strong performances and an expertly crafted atmosphere – the perfect addition to the IFC Midnight family. We’re excited to bring this wickedly smart film to audiences across the country.”
Director Joe Marcantonio added, “I’m really delighted to be working with IFC Films – to be on a slate alongside films by Sean Durkin and Michael Winterbottom is a dream-come-true for me. It’s fantastic to have joined forces with a team who are so enthusiastic about Kindred, and I can’t wait to get the film in front of audiences later this year.”
IFC Films is fresh off a successful opening weekend with Dave Franco’s The Rental. Together with the success of Natalie Erika James’ Relic and The Pierce Brothers’ The Wretched, IFC Films has banked over $3M from drive-in cinemas alone during the COVID-19 shutdown. Other critically acclaimed 2020 releases include, Carlo Mirabella Davis’ Swallow and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth.
The deal for the film was negotiated by IFC Films’ EVP of Acquisitions and Productions Arianna Bocco and Director of Acquisitions Aijah Keith with UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers. Beta Cinema is handling international sales.
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