Blue Finch Film Releasing has unveiled the first official teaser for Hellcat, the pulse-pounding, relentlessly kinetic directorial debut of writer/editor/director Brock Bodell, ahead of its World Premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 25th.
Starring Dakota Gorman (Natural Disasters) in a blistering, breakout turn, Hellcat throws us headfirst into a nightmare as a woman named Lena wakes up in a moving camper trailer, bloodied and wounded. The driver (Todd Terry) tells her they’ve got one hour to reach a doctor—or else. But as time ticks and pain twists into psychological horror, who should really be afraid?
Bodell’s film doesn’t chase cheap thrills. Written while he was living in Berlin and produced in Nashville, Hellcat proves that terror doesn’t require gallons of gore. What it does need, according to Bodell, is something far more insidious: emotion.
“This film was written and directed first and foremost by a new father. So the themes of parenthood, change, loss, identity, fringe ideals—they’re all ‘on the dash’ of Hellcat,” says Bodell. “Growing up in 1990’s Memphis, TN, I spent a large part of my childhood not knowing where I fit in. Navigating identity permeated through adulthood, and even more so now as a father. With Hellcat, I wanted to explore the loss and rebirth of identity, and inject all those subsequent questions into two people, in two totally different realities trying their hardest to navigate their changing existence…”
It’s this emotional honesty that’s helped define HELLCAT as a genre gem in the making. Rather than focusing on body count or cheap scares, Bodell uses the surreal scenario to speak to something universal — our endless, painful, human quest to understand who we are.
“For a lot of people, I think the ever-changing nature of identity can be shaped by those around us — by society, the people we share time with, social media, politics, things, etc. But when that’s stripped away, and we look inward, how will we truly define ourselves?” he adds. “While the scenario is fantastical, the true heart of the film is wholly relatable, and that’s the type of story I yearn to tell. I made Hellcat for everyone who’s ever lost anyone, including themselves.”
Produced by Andrew Duensing, HELLCAT premieres Friday, July 25th at 6:45 PM at Salle J.A. De Sève, with a second screening on Sunday, July 27th at 2:00 PM.
Visit the Hellcat Fantasia Festival page here for all screening details.
