EXCLUSIVE: BAFTA winner Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Blue Jean breakout Rosy McEwen and Jade Croot (The Serpent Queen) are starring in under-the-radar horror movie Rabbit Trap, which recently completed filming on location in Wales.
Bankside Films and CAA Media Finance are launching the project for sales at the upcoming AFM. Producing are Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah’s SpectreVision (Mandy) and Lawrence Inglee (The Tale), along with Elisa Lleras and Alex Ashworth and Sean Marley of Mad As Birds (Poms).
Set in 1973, the film charts the story of married musicians Daphne and Darcy Davenport, who have relocated from London to an isolated cabin in Wales in order to complete their new record. When they accidentally make a field recording of a mystical sound never before heard by human ears, a strange child enters their lives who gradually untethers them from reality, and the couple soon find themselves caught between the ancient spirits of the natural world and the lives they once knew. Above is a first look at the movie.
Written and directed by first timer Bryn Chainey, the film was funded by Adrian Politowski’s Align, who serves as a producer on the film alongside Executive Vice President of Production Martin Metz. Chairwoman Nadia Khamlichi, Commercial Director Nessa McGill and Vice President of Production Sierra Garcia will also serve as executive producers. Align and SpectreVision previously teamed on Nicolas Cage horror Mandy.
Bankside, which recently found success with Australian horror Talk To Me, is handling international sales and CAA Media Finance is aboard for domestic. A promo reel will be available during the AFM.
Having previously worked with composers including Oscar winner Volker Bertelmann and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, for the soundscape of Rabbit Trap SpectreVision hired Lucrecia Dalt, whose 2022 album AY! was named Best Album of the Year by Wire Magazine, sound designer Graham Reznick (Ti West’s X) and sound supervisor Brent Kiser (Everything, Everywhere, All At Once).
Additional executive producers include Dev Patel, Wiser Film’s Benjamin Kramer and Carte Blanche’s Kyle Stroud, Tom Ogden and Bankside Films’ Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green. The movie shot under Equity contracts so hasn’t needed an interim agreement.
Chainey’s short film, Jonah and the Vicarious Nature of Homesickness, won the Young Director’s prize at the Berlinale Talent Campus. Bryn went on to direct further shorts including, Moritz and the Woodwose and Kill Your Dinner, which premiered at the Berlinale.
“Bryn’s vision for Rabbit Trap artfully fuses the world of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop with authentic Celtic Faerie lore to create a mythical marriage story that unfolds in a sonic landscape. It’s an utterly unique vision from an important new voice in cinema that we’re privileged to be a part of,” said producer Elijah Wood.
Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films added: “We were immediately drawn to Bryn’s arresting and authored take on a horror story which will immerse audiences in the most cinematic and sonic world, full of spirits from the ancient world. The creative team behind and in front of the camera is exceptional and we are thrilled to bring this highly anticipated debut to the world.”
