Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaRLJE Films and Shudder have acquired Nyla Innuksuk’s “Slash/Back,” an alien invasion thriller that premiered to raves at this year’s SXSW.The two companies are business units of AMC Networks.
The film is expected to be released in theaters and on VOD/Digital before streaming on Shudder later this year. Shudder is focused on horror, thriller and supernatural content, so the appeal is obvious.“Slash/Back” is the feature directorial debut of Innuksuk, who also co-wrote the film with Ryan Cavan (“The Secret Goat”).
It stars a young cast that includes Tasiana Shirley, Alexis Wolfe, Nalajoss Ellsworth and Chelsea Prusky.“The brilliant effects, strong female leads and fun, adventurous story make this a film we know audiences are going to love,” said Mark Ward, chief acquisitions officer at RLJE Films.
Critics embraced the film after it debuted at SXSW, with Variety‘s Peter Debruge writing, “Indigenous director Nyla Innuksuk imagines an alien-invasion thriller that works on multiple levels, empowering the community in which she made it.”He went on to compare the film to geek favorite “Attack the Block,” adding that it “…seems bound to find a cult following, but it will mean the most to Inuit audiences, for whom standing up to invaders is more than just another genre-movie cliché.”Set in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, a sleepy hamlet nestled in the mountains of Baffin Island in the Arctic Ocean, “Slash/Back” opens as the village wakes up to a typical summer day.
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