News

Stars: Graham McTavish, Stan Steinbichler, Susie Porter, Honor Gillies | Written and Directed by Doug Rao

Dirty Boy, directed by Doug Rao in his directorial debut, is an ambitious psychological thriller that attempts to weave a complex tale of mental illness, cult dynamics, and personal redemption. Starring Graham McTavish, Stan Steinbichler, Susie Porter, and Honor Gillies; the film boasts strong performances and a visually striking aesthetic as it takes its time to develop and realise its deep narrative themes working its way under your skin.

Issac (Steinbichler), a young man grappling with schizophrenia, becomes entangled in a nightmare scenario when he believes he has been framed for a series of ritualistic murders. As he attempts to clear his name, he uncovers a sinister cult led by the manipulative and menacing duo of McTavish and Porter, with Gillies playing Hope, a conflicted member of the group living in their Von Trappian mansion.

Dirty Boy, a psychological folk horror rooted in religious extremism and fractured identity, is set to receive its UK premiere at the 33rd Raindance Film Festival on 22 June. Directed by Doug Rao in his feature-length debut, the film has been nominated for four major awards, including Best UK Feature and Best Director of a UK Feature, as well as a Best Performance nomination for Graham McTavish, who plays a central role in the film.

Blending psychological tension with folk horror and cult symbolism, Dirty Boy follows Isaac, a reclusive man raised in an insular religious sect. As ritualistic killings unfold, Isaac comes to suspect he is being framed by those who once controlled him. Schizophrenic and isolated, he must confront the secretive community he escaped from and unearth the full extent of his own fractured identity in order to stop a murder and prove his innocence.

The cast includes Stan Steinbichler,...

A few weeks ago, we shared the news that Outlander actor Graham McTavish has signed on to star in director Neil Marshall’s latest action horror survival thriller, Gunn, where Marshall will be working from a screenplay by Doug Rao, who is producing the film. We also mentioned that Rao recently made his own feature writing and directing debut with the mystery thriller Dirty Boy, which also happened to star Graham McTavish. Now, a trailer for Dirty Boy has dropped online, and you can check it out in the embed above!

Coming our way from Mystic Dream Story Studio and Stone Hill, in association with Saint Halo Productions, Dirty Boy will be having its UK Premiere at the 33rd Raindance Film Festival on June 22nd. It has already been nominated for four awards at the festival; Best Performance in a UK Feature (Graham McTavish), Best UK Feature, Best Director of...

London’s Raindance Film Festival will present its most expansive program since the pandemic, screening 70 narrative and documentary features June 18–27 at Vue Piccadilly. That marks a 90 percent increase over last year’s roster. The event opens with Christopher M. Anthony’s boxing drama Heavyweight and concludes with Camilla Guttner’s student-focused drama The Academy.

Festival founder Elliot Grove celebrated the broad selection: “Raindance has built a reputation for championing films that might be overlooked elsewhere. Launching with a British debut about a wildcard boxer feels entirely fitting.”

Opening Night: Heavyweight

Heavyweight follows a rising fighter (Nicholas Pinnock) whose chance in the ring coincides with personal struggles outside it. Co-starring Jason Isaacs and Jordon Bolger, the film had its world premiere at Raindance. Anthony penned the screenplay to explore ambition and sacrifice, shooting on location in UK gyms and community centres.

Closing Night: The Academy

Camilla Guttner’s The Academy tracks...

London’s Raindance Film Festival will kick off its 33rd edition with the world premiere of Christopher M. Anthony’s boxing drama “Heavyweight,” starring Nicholas Pinnock, Jason Isaacs, and Jordan Bolger.

The festival will close with the international premiere of Camilla Guttner’s art school drama “The Academy,” featuring Maja Bons as a student navigating the ruthless terrain of the art world.

“Raindance is always one to punch above its weight, so it’s appropriate that the festival’s 33rd edition should open with the world premiere of a British debut feature about a wildcard boxer,” said Raindance founder Elliot Grove.

The festival, running June 18-27 at Vue Piccadilly, marks a significant comeback with 70 narrative and documentary features — a 90% increase from last year and the first time since 2019 the festival will present so many films.

International competition highlights include “Dream!”, a Christmas-set musical following a young girl’s magical journey...

Back in 2002, I witnessed director Neil Marshall’s werewolf movie Dog Soldiers in a packed theatrical screening at a 24-hour horror marathon where the audience around me laughed and cheered at all the right moments. It was a great viewing experience – and because Dog Soldiers was so cool that it could provide an experience like that, I have been rooting for Marshall ever since. His career has had its ups and downs, but I’m always glad to hear he’s working on something new – so I was pleased to see the Variety report that Outlander actor Graham McTavish has signed on to star in Marshall’s latest action horror survival thriller, Gunn.

Although Marshall usually writes his own films, he’ll be directing this one from a screenplay written by Doug Rao that won the Gold Prize at the Page International Screenwriting Awards a while back. The survival horror...

Neil Marshall, who is best known as the director of Dog Soldiers, Hellboy, and episodes of the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones, has lined up his next project and its lead star. According to Variety, the British filmmaker is taking the reins on a new high-concept survival thriller titled Gunn, which is expected to mix action and horror against the backdrop of a secluded offshore platform. House of the Dragon and Outlander actor Graham McTavish is set to star in the upcoming movie, though his role remains undisclosed for now.

Not much is known about Gunn at this time, other than it having a screenplay written by Doug Rao, who recently stepped out to make his feature film directorial debut with the 2024 psychological thriller Dirty Boy, also starring McTavish in one of the movie's lead roles. The script for Gunn is already lauded as it won the Gold...

Dog Soldiers and The Descent director Neil Marshall is moving onto Gunn, with Graham McTavish signing up for the new survival horror.

Director Neil Marshall is heading to an oil rig it seems for his next movie, as he puts together a new survival horror by the name of Gunn.

Penned by Doug Rao (and his screenplay is an award-winner already), the movie will take place on a North Sea oil rig that’s been overtaken by a religious sect. It sounds a bit The Wicker Man in the middle of the ocean when described like that. Graham McTavish has signed on the dotted line to lead the movie.

Neil Marshall has form in this genre too, of course. Films such as Dog Soldiers and The Descent sit on his curriculum vitae, and he’s also behind movies such as Doomsday and Centurion. More recently, he directed the 2019 take on Hellboy,...

Graham McTavish is set to star in Gunn from director Neil Marshall, Variety reports.

The survival horror film is set against the savage isolation of a North Sea oil rig overtaken by a pagan sect.

Doug Rao wrote the script, which one the Gold Prize at the Page International Screenwriting Awards. Rao recently wrote and directed psychological thriller Dirty Boy, also starring McTavish.

Production is expected to start later this year in Bulgaria and the U.K., with Rao producing alongside Mark Myers and John Hermann.

The project is being packaged in the run up to the Cannes Film Market with sales discussions currently underway.

The post ‘House of the Dragon’ Actor Graham McTavish to Star in ‘Gunn’ from ‘The Descent’ Director Neil Marshall appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Graham McTavish, best known for his roles in “The Hobbit” and “Outlander,” is set to star in “Gunn,” an action-horror film directed by Neil Marshall.

“Gunn,” written by Doug Rao, is a survival horror set against the savage isolation of a North Sea oil rig overtaken by a pagan sect. The screenplay for “Gunn” won the Gold Prize at the Page International Screenwriting Awards.

Rao recently made his directorial debut with the psychological thriller “Dirty Boy” which also starred McTavish and won Best Film at the Maverick Movie Awards. “Gunn” marks Marshall’s return to high concept thrillers such as “Dog Soldiers” and “The Descent.”

Mark Myers will produce under his Citizen Skull banner – whose credits include the recently produced “Northanger Abbey,” “Manson Family Vacation Lair” and “I Hate Myself and Want to Die” — alongside John Hermann (“Standing Up”) and Rao.

The project is currently being packaged in the run...

Exclusive: Firebook Entertainment has acquired world sales and distribution rights to Dirty Boy, the debut feature from British actor-turned filmmaker Doug Rao.

The film is described as a psychological thriller. It stars Graham McTavish (The Hobbit) and was shot on location in Styria, Austria, the town where part of The Sound of Music was filmed.

The film’s plot follows a reclusive schizophrenic, raised in an oppressive religious sect, who must clear his name when he’s framed by cult leaders for a series of ritualistic murders. As he races to save the next victim, he must unravel his fractured mind and expose the sect from within.

Also starring are Susie Porter, Stan Steinbichler, Honor Gillies (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), and Alice Lucy (Mad Heidi). The film was produced by Rao, Giles Alderson (The Dare), Marek Lichtenberg, and Sarah-Ann Grill.

The Fantastic Pavilion returns to Cannes for its second edition, revealing seven Gala Screenings.

This year’s selection features “Do Not Enter” by Hugo Cardozo, “Aire, Just Breathe” directed by Leticia Tonos, Doug Rao’s “Dirty Boy,” Can Evrenol’s “Sayara,” “Mourir or Not Mourir” by Thomas Combret, Andreas Marschall’s “Black.White.Red.” and “Vadakkan” by Sajeed A.

“The Galas proved to be one of our most appealing assets and a massive draw. This year, we are repeating this format in the exact same way: seven screenings, with cast and crew in attendance, at 8pm [Cet] at the Olympia Cinema,” said Pablo Guisa Koestinger, Fantastic Pavilion executive director and CEO at Morbido Group.

Thanks to the Pavilion, the genre community in Cannes “came together, embraced it as its own and found a place they can call home,” he noted.

“They realized they could network and show their projects to genre film festivals,...

Writer-director Doug Rao will make his feature debut with Dirty Boy, a thriller starring Graham McTavish (“House of the Dragon”) that Deadline reports on this afternoon.

Stan Steinbichler (Zero Chill), Susie Porter (Gold) and Honor Gillies (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) also star in Dirty Boy, which has wrapped filming.

The film “centers on Issac (Steinbichler), a reclusive schizophrenic who discovers that he’s being framed for a series of ritualistic murders and must prove his innocence by exposing a sinister cult and rescuing their next victim.” Deadline further details in their report, “McTavish and Porter portray the brutal cult leaders, with Gillies as troubled sect member, Hope.”

The cast for the upcoming thriller will also include Alice Lucy, Katharina Scheuba, Ruaridh Adlington, Ava Merson-o’Brien, Michael Kodi Farrow and Olivia Chenery.

Producers are Giles Alderson, Sarah-Anne Grill (Solitary), and Marek Lichtenberg (The Final 45).

The post ‘Dirty...

Exclusive: Graham McTavish (House of the Dragon), Stan Steinbichler (Zero Chill), Susie Porter (Gold) and Honor Gillies (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) have wrapped production on Dirty Boy, an indie psychological thriller marking the first featur from writer-director Doug Rao.

Pic centers on Issac (Steinbichler), a reclusive schizophrenic who discovers that he’s being framed for a series of ritualistic murders and must prove his innocence by exposing a sinister cult and rescuing their next victim. McTavish and Porter portray the brutal cult leaders, with Gillies as troubled sect member, Hope.

Alice Lucy, Katharina Scheuba, Ruaridh Adlington, Ava Merson-o’Brien, Michael Kodi Farrow and Olivia Chenery co-star. Producers of the project are Giles Alderson, Sarah-Anne Grill (Solitary), and Marek Lichtenberg (The Final 45).

“I am delighted with the level of cast I have for my debut feature,” said Rao, “and getting to work...

Chances for a second season of the Zero Chill TV series have melted. The Netflix skating drama series has been cancelled after one round of 10 episodes.

A teen drama created by Kirstie Falkous and John Regier, Zero Chill stars Grace Beedie, Dakota Benjamin Taylor, Jeremias Amoore, Anastasia Chocholatá, Leonardo Fontes, Jade Ma, Sarah-Jane Potts, Doug Rao, Tanja Ribič, Oscar Skagerberg, Stan Steinbichler, and Christina Tam. In the story, the MacBentley family moves from Toronto to England when son Mac (Taylor) is offered a place at a legendary hockey academy. He's arrogant but also a superstar player. His twin sister is Kayla (Beedie), a figure skater who's struggling now that she's been separated from her skating partner. Kayla and Mac both make magic on the ice, but their approaches are poles apart.

The 10-episode first season of...

Exclusive: Netflix has cancelled YA skating drama Zero Chill after one series.

The 10-parter from All3Media-owned Lime Pictures, which has also produced three series of Netflix YA drama Free Rein and is behind upcoming Netflix non-scripted format Dance Monsters, dropped on the platform in March 2021, having been filmed in Sheffield, UK.

A Lime spokeswoman said: “There are currently no plans for a second series of Zero Chill. We are very proud of the show we made and its global success. Sheffield was a wonderful place to film in and we hope to return to the city with future projects.”

The series followed 15-year-old figure skater Kayla, whose life was up-ended from Canada to the UK when her twin brother received a place at a legendary hockey academy. Distraught at her parents’ decision to put her brother’s ambitions before her own, Kayla found her place on the ice again...

Exclusive: The team behind Netflix’s Ya horse drama Free Rein is saddling up for another scripted teen series for the streamer.

The Svod service has commissioned Zero Chill from All3Media-backed Lime Pictures.

The ten-part series follows 15-year old figure skater Kayla, whose life is up-ended from Canada to the UK when her twin brother Mac gets a place at a legendary hockey academy. Distraught at her parents’ decision to put her brother’s ambitions before her own, Kayla must find her place on the ice again in the shadow of her superstar brother.

Zero Chill was created by Doc Martin and Free Rein writers Kirstie Falkous and John Regier and the writers’ room is overseen by Ackley Bridge writer Adam Usden. Angelo Abela (Free Rein) and Tim Compton (The Evermoor Chronicles), who run Lime Pictures’ kids division, exec produce.

It stars newcomers Grace Beedie, who also has a...