Exclusives
‘Tender’ Trailer – Jesse Garcia, Jess Weixler, Robert Longstreet Star in Domestic Thriller [Exclusive]
A slow-burn psychological thriller edges into domestic horror in our exclusive Tender trailer.
Jesse Garcia (“From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”), Jess Weixler (Teeth), and Robert Longstreet (“The Haunting of Hill House”) star in the film.
Blending mounting dread with the claustrophobia of a crumbling relationship, Tender follows a couple trapped in a failing marriage and suffocating under debt who discover a hidden stash of gold buried within the walls of their home.
What begins as salvation quickly curdles into obsession. As they devise a plan to offload the fortune and escape financial ruin, suspicion metastasizes, trust fractures, and the house itself becomes a pressure cooker of paranoia.
Adam Hoelzel makes his feature directorial debut from his own script, which leans into the quiet terror of intimacy — the horror of realizing the person beside you may no longer be your partner, but your greatest threat.
Shakira Barrera (“Ironheart”), David Koechner (Anchorman), Mark St. Cyr (The Menu), Sonja O’Hara, Stephen Ellis, Robert Peters, and Alexander Cubis (“Ruthless”) round out the ensemble cast.
Producers include O’Hara, Sofia Rovaletti, Farrell Ingle, Theo Bucksey, Roy Hsu, Grayson Hay, Corey Moosa (Margin Call), David Hopwood (Den of Thieves), Michael K. Dwyer of A Group of Ferrets, and Juan Pablo Reinoso of Firebook Entertainment.
“This film explores how desperation can rot a relationship from the inside out,” says Hoelzel. “We were interested in the psychological unraveling — the way fear and greed distort perception until love starts to feel like a trap.”
Hoelzel — who recently wrapped production on the body horror thriller Snare, co-directed by O’Hara — will be participating in a narrative filmmaking roundtable at SXSW in Texas this weekend.
Exclusives
‘The Haunting of Pennhurst’ Exclusive Clip Trains Scare Actors For Historic Haunt in Tribeca Doc
The past and present collide in haunting, poignant ways in the genre documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst, which sees a Halloween haunt serve as a reclamation of true historic horrors.
Ahead of its world premiere at the 25th Tribeca Film Festival, we have an exclusive clip that sees scare actors in training for the Halloween season. The catch? This haunt is opening at the historic Pennhurst State School & Hospital site, a facility that caused immense harm to its disabled patients over decades of its operation.
In the documentary, “For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers – many living with the same conditions that once sent people to Pennhurst – put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living.
“Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite.”
The upcoming documentary hails from directing trio Nathan Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak, who explore their socially-relevant subject through archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité.
“Pennhurst has haunted us since we first passed through its dragon-tooth gates; the horrors of the institution echo through the site today. We are so grateful to bring this film to the Tribeca Festival, particularly the Escape from Tribeca section, which feels right for a story where past and present bleed together. We hope audiences leave unnerved and asking the same uncomfortable questions we did,” Attie, Stenberg, and Poljak said in a statement.
Watch the clip below that sees disabled and neurodivergent scare actors learning the ropes of a Halloween haunt, reclaiming the site’s grim history in the process.
Tribeca Screenings:
- Public 1 (Premiere) Screening – Friday, June 5 at 9:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 2 Screening – Sunday, June 7 at 3:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 3 Screening – Tuesday, June 9 at 6:15PM at Village East by Angelika