From Saban Films and Paramount Pictures comes the new thriller The Aviary, and ahead of its release this week, we have an exclusive clip to premiere. Written and directed by Chris Cullari and Jennifer Raite, the film stars Malin Akerman (Final Girls, The Ticket) and Lorenza Izzo (Hacks, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), and things get tense between the two in our clip as they make a puzzling discovery. You can watch the video below.
Along with Akerman and Izzo, the film stars Chris Messina and Sandrine Holt. You can read the official synopsis for the movie below.
"Trapped at Skylight’s isolated desert campus, The Aviary, Jillian (Akerman) and Blair (Izzo) join forces to make a treacherous escape. Alone in the harsh wilderness, they are consumed by paranoia and unable to shake the feeling that they are being followed by the cult's leader, Seth (Messina), a man as seductive as he is controlling. With supplies dwindling and their senses failing, Jillian and Blair are faced with a horrifying question: how do you run from an enemy who lives inside your head?"
The Aviary's Directors Want to Turn the Genre Inside Out
Chris Cullari and Jennifer Wraite, the directors and writers of The Aviary, are making their feature directorial debut with this film. They previously released the acclaimed horror-comedy short The Sleepover and created the YouTube Red series 12 Deadly Days, making their episodic debut. They also wrote and produced the 2017 thriller pilot Run for your Life and recently developed a new pilot for The CW and CBS TV Studios, as well as an action/horror feature for Blumhouse and director Len Wiseman.
With The Aviary, Cullari and Wraite are looking to break some new ground with the genre. The filmmakers addressed the film's inspirations along with what they hope to accomplish with the movie in a statement.
"We both learned that the hard way growing up-one in a strict, Catholic household, and the other with a New Age obsessed mother-and we’ve spent the rest of our lives fascinated by the blind alleys and dark roads people go down in their search for meaning," the statement reads in part. "What we’ve discovered is just how universal that search is. Whether we’re shaped by religion, social media bubbles, political beliefs, or our gut feelings about right and wrong, we all strive to fit the world and its problems-our problems-into a framework that guides our decision making.That’s what our brains have evolved to do, after all: create order out of infinite chaos. What’s terrifying is how easily those frameworks can be hijacked, even by the leaders with the best of intentions. And let’s be honest:not every leader clears that bar."
The filmmakers added, "We set out to tell a story of two women fleeing a modern,“corporate” cult on foot through the desert and the nightmare that ensues. Set upon by paranoia, doubt, guilt, and an escalating fear that they are being followed, we want the audience right alongside them. We want our viewers frightened for our characters and feeling as if they are piecing the mystery together with them. And when the women begin to turn on each other, our growing dread should ask: will they escape the desert at all?"
"Ultimately, the movie we’re making is not a 'cult movie' in the traditional sense," Cullari and Waite say. "We want to turn the genre inside out, ditch the robes and rituals, and focus on the human drama at the core of any belief system. Our film is about the lies we’re told, the lies we tell ourselves, and the struggle to see the world the way it really is. Welcome to THE AVIARY
The Aviary will be released in theaters, on Digital, and On Demand on April 29, 2022. You can watch the full trailer for the thriller below, and you can find out more about Saban Films' other works at SabanFilms.com.