Following its World Premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival in the coveted Midnight Madness section, IFC Midnight announced today that it is acquiring U.S. rights to writer-director Keith Thomas’ feature debut, The Vigil, a supernatural horror film with a Hasidic Jewish twist.
IFC Midnight will release the film on February 26th, 2021.
Steeped in ancient Jewish lore and demonology, The Vigil is set over the course of a single evening in Brooklyn's Hasidic Borough Park neighborhood. Low on funds and having recently left his insular religious community, Yakov reluctantly accepts an offer from his former rabbi and confidante to take on the responsibility of an overnight "shomer," fulfilling the Jewish practice of watching over the body of a deceased community member. Shortly after arriving at the recently departed’s dilapidated house to sit the vigil, Yakov begins to realize that something is very, very wrong.
The film stars Dave Davis (Bomb City), Malky Goldman (Unorthodox), Menashe Lustig (Menashe), Fred Melamed (A Serious Man), and Lynn Cohen (Munich).
Director Keith Thomas commented, "The Vigil is a real passion project. Not only for me but our whole team and I'm excited to see how the themes of the film resonate with American audiences. I'm also honored to collaborate with IFC on this release. They have a distinguished record of putting out thought-provoking genre films and their passion for The Vigil is palpable."
Producing is Raphael Margules and J.D. Lifshitz (Contracted, Becky) of BoulderLight Pictures alongside Adam Margules (Menashe). Additional notable credits within the filmmaking team include editor Brett W. Bachman (Mandy, Daniel Isn't Real), composer Michael Yezerski (The Devil's Candy), and cinematographer Zach Kuperstein (The Eyes of My Mother).
IFC Films and BoulderLight, being long-time collaborators, came together in a shared sense of ingenuity to build off their unconventional chart-toppers earlier this year – IFC with The Rental (#1 movie in America at the summer box office and on the iTunes charts) and Natalie Erika James’ critically-acclaimed Relic, BoulderLight with Becky.
IFC Films box office totals have surpassed $4.5M during the pandemic with innovative release strategies that continue to evolve.
Comments