EXCLUSIVE: Following its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, UK horror film A Banquet has sold to Signature for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
The deal was negotiated between Signature’s Elizabeth Williams and Hanway’s Nicole Mackey. Release is set for 2022.
A Banquet follows widowed mother Holly (played by Resident Evil actress Sienna Guillory) who is pushed to breaking point when her daughter Betsey (Jessica Alexander, Get Even) develops an extreme eating disorder. She claims she has experienced a profound enlightenment where her body is in service to a higher power. Tormented by Betsey’s illness, her family are faced with an agonising dilemma, torn between love and fear, and Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own belief. Also starring are Ruby Stokes (Bridgerton) and Lindsay Duncan (About Time).
The movie will next play at the BFI London Film Festival in the Cult strand. IFC Midnight previously picked up U.S. rights.
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Directed by Scottish-born first time feature director Ruth Paxton, the film was written by Justin Bull and produced by Tea Shop’s Leonora Darby, James Harris and Mark Lane, Riverstone Pictures’ Nik Bower and REP8’s Laure Vaysse.
Signature have previously picked up HanWay films including First Love (2019), The Kindness of Strangers (2019), Samurai Marathon (2020), The Wolf Hour (2020) and Music (2021).
