FEATURE FILM COMPETITION: SUCCUBUS
TIME: 19:45, Saturday 30th November
VENUE: BLOC cinema
SUCCUBUS
| Director | R. J. Daniel Hanna |
| Producer | Anna Elizabeth James, Todd Slater |
| Running Time | 1:43:00 |
| Genre | Drama |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Main Casts | Ron Perlman, Rosanna Arquette, Olivia Applegate, Brendan Bradley, Rachel Cook |
| Screenplay | R. J. Daniel Hanna |
| Premiere Status | London |
| SYNOPSIS | A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman… whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined. |
| DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT | If this film is for you, you’ll be frightened by what makes you laugh, and grinning at the scariest moments. This is not a traditional horror story, but an examination of masculinity–toxic and domesticated–as well as dating, breakups, recreational sex, procreational sex, and whether thirsting over someone’s Instagram constitutes infidelity. It’s an opportunity to explore our inner sexual demons, to see that even the best of us are tempted to stray, and the worst of us still need love and compassion. It’s a film that will ring true, start conversations (as well as arguments), and scare the hell out of people. My first feature, “Miss Virginia” starring three-time-Emmy-winner Uzo Aduba, was an expansive story shot on both ends of the country, with a big cast, bigger crowds, and a real woman’s inspiring story at its core. It was a heartfelt and humbling experience, but now I’m excited to look at something that’s beautiful and ugly all at once. A project that isn’t about breadth of vision, but depth. At first, I was nervous to share this script because I included conflicts from my own internet dating experiences and relationships. It’s honest, warts and all, but unlike the men in “Succubus,” I’ve come out the other side with all my pieces intact (physically, at least). We all have romantic scars to be sure, and I think it would be good for people to pick at these scabs a little, squeeze out some of the puss. It’s therapeutic. I don’t see this as a story about a man falling victim to a demonic force, but about how we’ve always been possessed by lust and doubt, and that we’re even more haunted by these ghosts in the internet age. What represents life today better than trapping our characters in the dark with their screens? The consequences of their actions seem only half real, until things get way too real way too fast. I want to make the viewer feel the weight of the physical and spiritual worlds, then compare that to the flimsy, empty online existence we all curate, especially when lust and love are involved. |
| PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION | Shout! Factory Sales Agent,United States,All Rights rjdanielhanna@gmail.com |
London International Fantastic Film Festival 