By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The film pointedly shot in the South during Pride Month.
Iris Indie International and The Story Lab have announced the conclusion of principal photography on GANYMEDE, directed by Colby Holt and Sam Probst. The LGBTQ+-themed fright film stars Jordan Doww (pictured), Pablo Castelblanco, David Koechner (KRAMPUS, CHEAP THRILLS), Robyn Lively (TEEN WITCH), Joe Chrest (STRANGER THINGS) and Marissa Reyes. The synopsis: “GANYMEDE tells the story of Lee Fletcher IV, a high school senior and third-generation heir to a local political dynasty in a small town in the South. When he develops a crush on his openly gay classmate, Lee finds himself stalked by a grotesque, faceless creature that increasingly inhabits his thoughts and threatens physical harm.”
The movie was shot in Holt’s home town of Paducah, KY, and he and Probst say, “We are a country pulling ourselves in opposite directions–while widespread acceptance of the LGBTQ community may be at an all-time high, we also are facing a new wave of backlash, violence, and discrimination. That ideological split and its real-world implications are what we seek to dissect with this work. We wanted to explore the queer experience in the modern South, and the terror one can be made to feel with the realization they are gay or queer-identified.”
GANYMEDE is aiming for a film-festival debut in 2023.
