Caren Pistorius joins Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged as filming begins

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

A couple months ago, the newly formed Solstice Studios caught our attention with the announcement that their first project to go into production would be the psychological thriller UNHINGED, starring Russell Crowe as the man who brings the thrills into the picture due to his excessive road roage.

UNHINGED is now filming, and it has been revealed that the lead role opposite Crowe has gone to Caren Pistorius, who genre fans might have seen in the Australian horror film CARGO. Although Pistorius is originally from South Africa, most of her acting roles have been in films and shows made in New Zealand and Australia. Having Crowe (born in New Zealand, raised in Australia) and Pistorius as the leads might cause one to guess that this is being made in one of those countries as well, but it's actually being shot in New Orleans.

Directed by Derrick Borte from a script by Carl Ellsworth, UNHINGED 

takes an ordinary, everyday incident to its most terrifying conclusion in telling the story of Rachel (Pistorius), a mother who leans on her horn at the wrong time, to the wrong guy (Crowe). “Road rage” doesn’t begin to describe what he’s about to do to her and everyone she knows.  

Crowe had this to say about Pistorius: 

Caren has that magical thing seen in all great actresses, you just believe she’s inhabiting the skin of the character she’s playing. Derrick went through a long casting process that culminated in an old school audition with both of us in the room. She claimed that audition in a definitive way. I know she’s been working a long time and has some great credits, but casting Caren still feels like we’ve made a discovery. It’s exciting."

Solstice is aiming to get UNHINGED a wide U.S. theatrical release in the third quarter of 2020.