NIGHTSTREAM VIRTUAL FILM FESTIVAL
OPENING NIGHT
Run
World Premiere
United States | 2020 | 90 Min. | Dir. Aneesh Chaganty
Sarah Paulson and newcomer Kiera Allen shine in director Aneesh Chaganty (SEARCHING) nail-biting, Hitchcockian new thriller about a wheelchair-bound teenager whose fragile, isolated existence with her doting mother is threatened when she begins to notice strange occurrences around her house. A Hulu Original Film.
CLOSING NIGHT
Mandibles
North American Premiere
France | 2020 | 77 Min | Dir. Quentin Dupieux
Visionary director Quentin Dupieux (RUBBER, DEERSKIN) returns with his most accessible and hilarious film to date, a tale of two simple-minded friends who find a giant fly stuck in the trunk of a car and set themselves up to train it to earn money with it. Originally set to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. A Magnolia Pictures Release.
32 Malasaña Street
North American Premiere
Spain | 2020 | 105 Min. | Dir. Albert Pintó
The Olmedo family gets more than they bargained for when they move into a suspiciously low-priced apartment in Madrid, circa 1976, and quickly find themselves in a living nightmare in this intense and stylish Spanish answer to James Wan’s THE CONJURING. A Shudder Original Film.
Anything For Jackson
U.S. Premiere
Canada | 2020 | 97 Min | Dir. Justin G. Dyck
Satanists Audrey and Henry Walsh had the best of intentions when they kidnapped a young pregnant woman in the hopes of performing a resurrection ritual for their recently deceased grandson. What could go wrong?
Av: The Hunt
North American Premiere
Turkey | 2020 | 87 Min | Dir. Emre Akay
To escape the murderous wrath of her oppressive and patriarchal family after being caught with her lover, Ayse must go on the run through the backroads of modern-day Turkey in his absurdly primal fight for survival.
Black Bear
USA | 2019 | 104 Min. Dir. Lawrence Michael Levine
Punctuated with outstanding performances from Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, and Sarah Gadon, Lawrence Michael Levine’s Kaufman-esque BLACK BEAR tells the story of a filmmaker who arrives at a rural retreat and discovers that the unpredictable behavior of her hosts will be the source of her most inspired work yet. A Momentum Pictures release.
Bleed With Me
Canada | 2020 | 79 Min. | Dir. Amelia Moses
A lo-fi and subtly creepy chamber piece, Amelia Moses’ debut BLEED WITH ME follows Rowan, an insecure girl spending a wintery retreat at a remote cabin with her best friend, Emily, and Emily’s boyfriend, Brendan. When Rowan’s anxiety around being an unwanted guest starts to get to her, mounting paranoia gives way to hallucinations, making this trip into something chillingly sinister. An Epic Pictures release.
Bloody Hell
North American Premiere
Australia, USA | 2020 | 95 Min. | Dir. Alister Grierson
In this relentlessly energetic, pitch-black horror-comedy, an ex-bank robber fleeing the country after a video of him goes viral, heads to Helsinki only to find there’s something in store for him there that is much more difficult to escape.
Boys From County Hell
North American Premiere
Ireland | 2020 | 89 Min. | Dir. Chris Baugh
The tourist-pranking antics of a group of hardy Irish road workers are turned against them when they discover that they’ve accidentally awoken an undead bloodsucker sleeping beneath the town’s soil in this uproarious and freaky horror-comedy. Originally scheduled to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Breaking Surface
U.S. Premiere
Sweden, Norway, Belgium | 2020 | 81 Min. | Dir. Joachim Hedén
An emotional deep-water diving trip for two sisters turns disastrous when a landslide causes one of them to be pinned to the ocean floor in this heart-rending and fear-inducing survival thriller. A Doppelganger Releasing Film.
Climate Of The Hunter
United States | 2020 | 90 Min. | Dir. Mickey Reece
Prolific underground director Mickey Reece’s oddball humor and otherworldly retro flair are on full display in this delightful tale of two sisters whose love-hate relationship is stirred up when they reunite with a childhood friend who they suspect may or may not be a vampire. A Dark Star Pictures release.
Come True
U.S. Premiere
Canada | 2020 | 105 Min | Dir. Anthony Scott Burns
In this ambitious sci-fi gem, a troubled teenager tormented by nightmares enters into a mysterious sleep study that unlocks the truth about her surreal dreams and the dark shadowy figure within them.
Darkness
U.S. Premiere
Italy | 2019 | 98 Min. | Dir. Emanuela Rossi
Under their father’s tyranny, three siblings are forced to remain indoors, with all views of the outside world blocked off, leaving the eldest to suspect something isn’t right in this cleverly constructed look at domestic abuse under the guise of post-apocalyptic paranoia.
Detention
Taiwan | 2019 | 103 Min. | Dir. John Hsu
Set during the Tawainese martial law of the 1960s, this shockingly gruesome and terrifying coming-of-age drama based on a hugely popular video game sees two classmates who go looking for their missing friends and teachers, all of whom took part in an illegal book club, only to come face to face with ghosts and deformed monsters that have taken over their school.
Dinner In America
United States | 2020 | 106 Min. | Dir. Adam Carter Rehmeier
A punk rocker arsonist on the run (Kyle Gallner, Veronica Mars) and his number one fan embark on a series of misadventures through suburbia, finding unexpected love along the way in this absolutely electric, thoroughly anarchic, misfit stoner rom-com you didn’t know you needed.
The Doorman
World Premiere
United States | 2020 | 93 Min. | Dir. Ryûhei Kitamura
As visually stylish as it is graphically violent, this punishing action-thriller from the legendary Ryûhei Kitamura (VERSUS) stars Ruby Rose (JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2, Batwoman) as a former Marine turned doorman at a luxury New York City high-rise who must outsmart and battle a group of art thieves and their ruthless leader (Jean Reno, LÉON: THE PROFESSIONAL) — while struggling to protect her sister’s family. A Lionsgate release.
Ema
Chile | 2019 | 107 Min. | Dir. Pablo Larrain
In the latest from acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín (JACKIE) adoptive parents Ema (Mariana Di Girolamo) and Gastón (Gael García Bernal) are artistic free spirits in an experimental dance troupe whose lives are thrown into chaos after their son is involved in a shockingly violent incident. A Music Box Films release.
Frank & Zed
World Premiere
United States | 93 Min. | Dir. Jesse Blanchard
Lovingly crafted entirely with hand puppets, this hilarious, blood-drenched practical marvel sees the peaceful, secluded lifestyle of two monsters threatened when a group of desperate villagers come to repay an age-old pact to a wretched demon.
Honeydew
World Premiere
United States | 2020 | 106 Min. | Dir. Devereux Milburn
A couple, Sam (Sawyer Spielberg) and Riley (Malin Barr), on a backwoods road trip find themselves descending into a hallucinatory hell when they accept auto repair help from an elderly farmer and her peculiar son in this unhinged and unforgettable directorial debut. Originally set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Hunted
U.S. Premiere
Belgium, France, Ireland | 2020 | 96 Min. | Dir. Vincent Paronnaud
Acclaimed filmmaker/comic artist Vincent Paronnaud (director of Cannes Jury Prize and Academy Award nominee PERSEPOLIS) returns to the screen with an exhilaratingly ferocious survival horror flick that follows Eve, a woman who encounters a seemingly charming man at a bar, only to uncover that his true sociopathic nature will spark a dire, life-or-death chase through the wilderness. A Shudder Original Film.
It Cuts Deep
World Premiere
United States | 2020 | 77 Min | Dir. Nicholas Payne Santos
While on Christmas vacation, Sam’s world begins to close in around him in horrifying and hilarious ways when his girlfriend’s announcement that she wants to start a family coincides with the sudden reappearance of an old acquaintance who alludes to Sam’s violent past. A Dark Sky Films Release.
Jumbo
Belgium, France | 2020 | 93 Min. | Dir. Zoé Wittock
Noémie Merlant (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE) gives a fearless performance as a shy amusement park worker whose life changes when a new star attraction shows up and immediately enthralls her with “his” magnificent machinery in this fantastical and heartfelt debut from writer/director Zoe Wittock. A Dark Star Pictures release.