By Variety | Created at 2024-09-26 02:21:33 | Updated at 2024-09-30 11:34:10
4 days ago
Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Alyssa Sutherland head the cast of “The Room Below,” a psychological creature thriller film that is now shooting in Sydney, Australia.
The film hails from writer-director Kurt Martin (“Moon Rock for Monday”). Production is through Byron Bay-based Lunar Pictures.
In “The Room Below,” Mia, an expectant mother and acclaimed author of children’s books, encounters strange occurrences in her home when a boy, who strikes a remarkable resemblance to her dead son, goes missing. As grief begins to consume Mia, her suspicious behavior attracts the attention of a retired detective intent on solving the missing boy’s case.
Ireland-born Rhys Meyers has multiple Hollywood and international credits including “Velvet Goldmine,” The Tudors” and “Dracula.” Sutherland has recent credits including TV series “Vikings” and film “Evil Dead Rise. Other key cast include Bobby Gilchrist (“Shapeless,” “The Invisible Raptor”) and Gilbert Bradman (“Transfusion,” “The Twelve”).
“’The Room Below’ is a deeply intense psychological thriller about grief, guilt and obsession, with an incredibly unsettling and unique creature dialling up the scares. I am so excited to be in production alongside my dream cast [..] and world-class collaborators and crew,” said Martin.
Australia-born Martin, who trained initially as a lawyer, has an extensive career directing and producing short film. His 2019 feature directing debut “Moon Rock for Monday” was picked up by EOne’s Seville International and licensed to Cinedigm for North American release. It played multiple festivals including those in Zurich, Beijing Adelaide and Western Australia’s CinefestOZ and earned Martin an AACTA nomination for best indie film in 2021. Since then he also produced Alex Proyas’s short film “Mask of the Evil Apparition.”
“The Room Below” is produced by Jim Robison for Lunar Pictures, Chris Chard for CME and Ty Linegar for MIK Studio, with Marc Furmie, William Ramsey, Colin Bates, Adam Callen, Samuel Levine, Roy Scott Macfarland, Clement Dunn, Emma Comley and actress Jaime King serving as executive producers.
Alexandra Taussig (The Narrow Road to the Deep North, The Stranger) is acting as a producer consultant for the production.
The Room Below is a Lunar Pictures film in association with CME, Valecroft and MIK Studio, with support from Hooligan Dreamers, Tetrad Studios and Monster Pictures. Award-winning special make-up effects studio Make Up Effects Group (“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Talk to Me”) are designing the creature. No sales agent or North American distributor has yet been attached.
