Chroma has acquired the North American rights to The Restoration at Grayson Manor with plans for a theatrical release this year.
The Irish gothic horror film is directed by Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead, V/H/S) from a script he co-wrote with Clay McLeod Chapman (Wendell & Wild).
Chris Colfer (“Glee”) stars as Boyd Grayson, a hedonistic heir who loses his hands in a freak accident. Alice Krige (Gretel & Hansel) plays his domineering mother, Jacqueline, who invests in radical experimental new technology to help him.
Deirdre Levins, John McDonnell, and Brendan McCarthy of the Dublin-based Fantastic Films (Vivarium, The Hallow) produce alongside the Vienna-based Thomas Herbert and Florian Brüning of Horse&Fruit.
The film was developed by Screen Ireland and financed by Screen Ireland, Coimisún na Meán, the Austria Film Institute, the Irish tax credit provided by the Government of Ireland and RTE Television.
“The Restoration at Grayson Manor is audacious, perverse, and emotionally ferocious,” said Chroma VP Ahbra Perry. “Glenn McQuaid has crafted an unsettling horror story that explores queer identity and repression, and bodily autonomy, in a way that feels both operatic and intimate. We’re thrilled to bring this film to North American audiences, and to showcase Chris Colfer’s powerful return to acting in such a daring, transformative role.”
“From our first conversations, it was clear Chroma really got this film. Their persistence and enthusiasm throughout the acquisition has been incredibly affirming,” said McQuaid. “The Restoration at Grayson Manor is a deeply personal, gothic queer horror, and finding a North American partner willing to champion its ambition and strangeness means everything to us. I couldn’t be more excited to have Chroma bringing it to audiences.”
Trace Thurman wrote in his review out of the film’s Fantastic Fest premiere last year, “The Restoration at Grayson Manor has all the ingredients for a great film, but it doesn’t know how to execute them for maximum effect.”
