‘House Of The Dragon' Star Emily Carey, Claes Bang & Suki Waterhouse Lead Thriller ‘Walk With Me'; HanWay Launching For AFM

EXCLUSIVE: Emily Carey (House Of The Dragon), Claes Bang (The Square) and Suki Waterhouse (Seance) are set to star in psychological thriller Walk With Me, which HanWay Films is launching ahead of the AFM (see first marketing artwork below).

Claudia Bluemhuber of Silver Reel (The Wife) is serving as lead producer on the movie in which Carey will play a young woman plagued by a nightmarish creature from Celtic mythology. Jonny Blair (River City) is directing.

The project is being set up as a European co-production (with a European cast) and is aiming for an early 2024 shoot in Europe (it won't be made under a SAG contract so isn't seeking an interim agreement).

Silver Reel's Alexander Jooss and Florian Dargel serve as executive producers. Silver Reel's Jona Thompson and Jimmy Campbell-Smith will act as co-producers.

The script was penned by screenwriter Benjamin Farry, whose VR feature film Cosmos Within Us was an official selection at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. DoP will be Dutch cinematographer Evelin Van Rei, who won the Angénieux Special Encouragement Award at Cannes Film Festival in 2022, which recognises next-generation cinematographic talent. Anné Kulonen is composer. Kristyan Mallett (The Flash) from KM Effects is the makeup and design artist for the prosthetics and creature design.

The full synopsis reads: "Teenager Ellie (Carey) struggles to connect with her emotionally distant father Simon (Bang) who has raised her alone since her mother died in childbirth. When he announces their move to a remote rural cottage, to live with his new younger girlfriend Fiona (Waterhouse), Ellie is filled with anxiety. Almost as soon as they arrive, Ellie sees a version of her father that she doesn't recognise – he's playful and loving in his interactions with Fiona and it devastates her, reinforcing everything she fears about herself.

Unsettled, Ellie is plagued by recurring visions of a terrifying creature, which her new local friend identifies as the Washerwoman – a figure from Celtic mythology, descended from women who die in childbirth. According to the legend, the creature appears to those who are about to die themselves. Ellie is increasingly certain that Fiona intends to murder her, the emotional gulf with her father only growing as she realises Fiona is pregnant. As her reality becomes a nightmare, Ellie is sent down a violent path, one that will overturn all of our preconceptions and ask what lengths we would go to in order to win back the ones we love."

Director Blair's short film The Groundsman starred David O'Hara (The Departed) and screened at multiple festivals before winning the Best Film award at the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards. His NFTS graduation film Come Out Of The Woods starred Joe Dempsie (Game Of Thrones) and was nominated for an RTS award.

Gabrielle Stewart, CEO HanWay Films said: "Walk With Me brilliantly exploits, twists and turns all the emotional upheaval and neurosis triggered by a new stepmother figure in a teenage girl's life, heightened by the darkness of a scary mythological creature. We are delighted to be working with our talented friends at Silver Reel on Jonny Blair's psychological thriller debut!"

The Wife and Under The Skin outfit Silver Reel added: "From the moment we read Walk With Me, we were immediately captured by the combination of a nerve-racking and strikingly original story, with beautifully realistic, complex characters. It was a real win to attach young talent like Jonny to bring the script to life. The world of our story is one he relates to so closely, and has already proven his ability to recreate it on screen in gripping, viscerally emotive ways. That world-class talent of the likes of Claes, Suki and Emily have attached to the film is a powerful show of faith in Ben's script and Jonny's directorial vision for it ".

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