Deadline: IFC Midnight Picks Up Domestic Rights To Psychological Drama ‘Kindred’

EXCLUSIVE: IFC Midnight we have learned has acquired North American rights to the Joe Marcantonio psychological drama KINDRED which they’re planning to open on Nov. 6.

Kindred follows mother-to-be Charlotte. She collapses upon receiving the news that her boyfriend Ben suddenly dies in an accident. 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.

Marcantonio directed and wrote the screenplay with Jason McColgan. Dominic Norris & Jack Lowden of Reiver Pictures produced. Kindred stars Tamara Lawrance (The Long Song), Jack Lowden (Dunkirk, Fighting With My Family), Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve), and Edward Holcroft (Kingsman, The Sense of an Ending). John Keville & Morgan Bushe of Fastnet Films serve as Executive Producers alongside Norman Merry & Peter Hampden of Lipsync Productions, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross of Head Gear Films, Serotonin Films and Gareth Wiley.

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.”

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 has been supplying those drive-ins and hardtop theaters braving the pandemic with new content, collectively making over $3M from its genre releases The Rental, The Wretched and Relic. Dave Franco’s The Rental notched the top spot over the weekend box office becoming the second film after Universal’s Trolls World Tour to do so since the major circuits shutdown in mid-March out of safety during COVID-19.

The deal was completed 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 overseeing foreign sales.