Desire leaves a mark in the trailer for The Serpent’s Skin, which channels “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Charmed” through a queer lens.
The indie horror romance marks the sixth feature from 21-year-old trans director Alice Maio Mackay (Carnage for Christmas, T Blockers).
The film hits Digital on April 21 via Dark Star Pictures after opening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn on March 27, the Alamo Drafthouse in Los Angeles on April 3, the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on April 2, and Vidiots in Los Angeles on April 4, with additional cities to be announced.
It follows 20-something Anna, who leaves her small, transphobic hometown to start a new life in the city with her sister when she quickly finds herself face-to-face with Gen, a confident young woman she’d first seen in visions.
Gen, Anna learns, has supernatural powers—powers that the two of them share. Their bond of magic and romance is threatened when Gen inadvertently unleashes a demon in Danny, Anna’s one-time fling and neighbor, and the mysterious evil begins targeting — and feeding on — everyone close to them.
Alexandra McVicker (“Vice Principals”), Avalon Fast, and Jordan Dulieu star with Charlotte Chimes, Scott Major (“Heartbreak High”), Alyssa Peters (Carnage for Christmas), and Lewi Dawson (T Blockers).
Mackay co-wrote the script with frequent collaborator Benjamin Pahl Robinson. The People’s Joker filmmaker Vera Drew served as editor, while H6LLB6ND6ER composed the score.
Joe Lipsett wrote in his review out of Fantasia, “Mackay’s bold color scheme, elliptical editing, and counter culture attitude are all present in The Serpent’s Skin, but the narrative moves at a more deliberate pace than her previous films, which allows the characters time to breathe between set pieces.”
