By MICHAEL GINGOLD
It was announced last week that IFC Films had picked up Dave Franco’s directorial-debut fright film, and now the distrib has set debut dates for that and a new supernatural chiller.
IFC will bring THE RENTAL to VOD July 24, and the Australian production RELIC (pictured) to theaters and VOD July 10. RELIC, which was part of the Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals, was directed by Natalie Erika James from a script she wrote with Christian White, and stars Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote, Chris Bunton, Steve Rodgers and Jeremy Stanford. The synopsis: “RELIC tells the story of Edna [Nevin], an elderly and widowed matriarch who goes missing, and her daughter Kay [Mortimer] and granddaughter Sam [Heathcote], who must travel to their remote family home to find her. Soon after her return, they start to discover a sinister presence haunting the house and taking control of Edna.”
THE RENTAL was written by Franco and Joe Swanberg from a story they wrote with Mike Demski, and stars Alison Brie, Dan Stevens (THE GUEST), Jeremy Allen White and Sheila Vand (A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT). The synopsis: “Two couples embark on a weekend getaway to a seemingly perfect house they’ve booked online. But what begins as a celebratory weekend for the four close friends turns into something far more sinister as secrets they’ve kept from each other are exposed and they realize they may not be alone.”
