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After seeing political commentators spout extreme rhetoric about a mass shooting, Lola Blanc wondered: do they actually believe any of it? That question served as the creative impetus behind her brand new short film, Pruning, starring the one and only, Madeline Brewer. Talking heads like Tomi Lahren became the basis from which the rest of the film grew.

In its original inception, Pruning was not a body-horror film at all. It was a character study. Co-written with Jeremy Radin, the film examines the social and moral implications of extremist beliefs. Blanc utilizes horror elements to tell the tale of a right-wing commentator named Sami Geller (Brewer) who struggles with her conscience and being a mouthpiece for the alt-right. “We had outlined a version of it, and we were like, ‘It’s just not getting at the thing enough–the horror that this really should be capturing.’ So we dug a little deeper.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” and Cam actress Madeline Brewer has set up her next project, with Deadline reporting today that Brewer will star in a social horror movie titled Pruning. Brewer will star alongside Peyton Kennedy, Anjali Bhimani, Jeremy Radin, Akilah Hughes and Ben Gleib in Pruning, which is filming now with Lola Blanc in the […]

The post ‘Cam’ Actress Madeline Brewer Will Lead the Cast of Psychological Horror Movie ‘Pruning’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Exclusive: Emmy nominee Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid’s Tale) has signed on to star alongside Peyton Kennedy, Anjali Bhimani, Jeremy Radin, Akilah Hughes and Ben Gleib in the indie Pruning.

In Lola Blanc’s psychological horror film, which is currently in production in the Los Angeles area, a far-right political commentator Sami Geller (Brewer) discovers that her rhetoric has inspired a mass shooting. She must then contend with the part of herself that has a conscience.

Blanc is directing from the script she wrote with Jeremy Radin, with Nick Paskhover and Chris Beyrooty producing. David Lawson, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead will also produce under their Rustic Films banner, with Brewer, Deric A. Hughes and Elia Petridis serving as EPs. Brewer is represented by CAA and Schreck Rose Dapello.

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Exclusive: Leticia Peguero has been appointed as Senior Vice President at Oscar-nominated documentarian Stanley Nelson’s (Attica) Firelight Media.

Peguero comes to...

Gavin O’Connor is so skilled at eliciting suspense and excitement from buzzer-beater clichés that it’s easy to mistake “The Way Back” for another sports movie in the vein of “Miracle” or “Warrior.”

But in fact, his second collaboration with Ben Affleck (following 2016’s “The Accountant”) is a rich character drama about loss, addiction and self-destruction that only incidentally focuses on the business of life lessons and whipping a ragtag team of misfits into a winning ball club.

Affleck ostensibly lays himself bare as a fledgling coach wrestling with alcoholism after abandoning a promising future as a player, while O’Connor offers a hard and unflinching look at the opportunities, even great ones, that paper over but never fully repair our most deeply held traumas.

Watch Video: Ben Affleck Battles Alcoholism and Coaches Basketball in 'The Way Back' Trailer

Affleck plays Jack Cunningham, a former basketball prodigy who...

Ben Affleck has been such a major figure in tabloid culture for years now that a) the lines between his real life and his cinematic one have gradually gotten fuzzier and b) the ongoing turmoil in his personal life has made it easy to forget that with the right role, he can still be an extraordinary actor. In The Way Back, those two aspects of this talented man’s life intersect in a way that turns what could merely be a rote weepie into something much more affecting, anchored by Affleck’s powerful, raw performance.

Affleck plays Jack Cunningham, a one-time high school basketball star who abruptly abandoned the game instead of riding it into college and beyond. When we meet Jack, he’s deep in the throes of alcoholism: he needs a beer just to get through his morning shower, sneaks vodka into his water bottle on the construction site he works at,...

Coming to FX this Thursday are all new episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Archer. Kicking off at 10 pm (Est), The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore, where Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), and Frank (Danny DeVito) end up having the time of their lives. Then at 10:30, Heart of Archness Part II concludes a two-part look at how Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) went missing after the murder of his beloved fianc&#233e. Check out all new promos for both shows below.

Click to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore Promo!

Click to watch Archer: Heart of Archness, Part II Promo!

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode 7.2, "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore" stars Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito, Jeremy Radin.

Archer episode 3.2, "Heart of Archness, Part II"...