Brightwood trailer: sci-fi thriller reaches VOD and DVD in August

Cinephobia Releasing will be giving the sci-fi thriller Brightwood – a film that is said to be a “chilling mind-bender” that’s “in the twisted vein of Timecrimes and Coherence” – a VOD and DVD release on August 22nd. With that date just over a month away, a trailer for Brightwood has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above.

The feature debut of writer/director Dane Elcar, Brightwood has the following synopsis: Jen and Dan’s marriage is on the rocks with Jen seriously thinking about ending it for good. But when the pair go on a jog around a local pond in an attempt to hash things out, they find themselves running in circles as the exit trail vanishes and they repeatedly return to the same spot. Being stuck together in an endless loop would be bad enough, but when a silent hooded killer appears and starts tracking them down, the couple must figure out how to survive — together or apart.

Dana Berger (Orange Is the New Black) and Max Woertendyke (Succession) star. Those are the only actors on the available cast list.

Speaking with Cinema-Crazed about the film, Elcar said, “I wanted to keep the action going forward and make it entertaining and dark and fun. But it was always meant to be a couple. I really wanted to dissect a long term relationship. To see what would happen if I dropped them into that scenario. It allowed me to really explore the emotional cycles that can happen–the kind of progression and then regression in and out of toxicity. Love and hate. Plus, the basic nature of time loop movies are always a bit funny to me, so given the subject matter, it also presented a lot of opportunity to infuse it with humor. In the end I do consider it a love story. Some might disagree.“

Brightwood has been making the festival rounds, racking up positive attention through screenings at Panic Fest, Other Worlds, Popcorn Frights, Another Hole in the Head, Salem Horror Fest, HorrorHound Film Festival, and others. Now we’re just weeks away from being able to watch the movie in the comfort of our own homes.

What did you think of the Brightwood trailer? Does this look like a movie you would want to watch? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Brightwood looks interesting to me, so I’ll probably check it out at some point. And while we’re talking about movies with time loops and breaks in reality, the press release for Brightwood has made me realize that while I have seen Timecrimes (and the similar Triangle), I haven’t seen the other movie referenced, Coherence – despite the fact that our own Eric Walkuski gave it an 8/10 review! I’m nine years behind on that one, so I’m going to have to seek it out.