Identical twins Michelle Macedo (“Girlboss”) and Melissa Macedo (V/H/S/99) star as a woman suffering from body dysmorphia and her ravenous doppelgänger in Thinestra.
Drawing comparisons to The Substance, the grotesque, darkly comedic body horror film will be released on Digital April 14 via Breaking Glass Pictures.
It tells the story of Penny, a young woman tormented by body dysmorphia and relentless societal pressures around perfection. When Penny impulsively takes a mysterious, Ozempic-esque weight-loss drug, she experiences a horrifying transformation. The fat she sheds returns as her ravenous doppelgänger, Penelope, and chaos ensues.
Set against a sweltering Los Angeles Christmas, Thinestra uses Penny’s internal struggle to explores obsession, shame, and appetite. Sate your hunger with the trailer below.
Nathan Hertz makes his feature directorial debut from a script by Avra Fox-Lerner (Bloodline). Alexandra Lubenova and Kelly Parker produce.
Mary Beth Barone (“Overcompensating”), Annie Ilonzeh (“Chicago Fire”), Gavin Stenhouse (“9-1-1”), Shannon Dang (“Kung Fu”), Brian Huskey (“Veep”), and Norma Maldonado (“Jane the Virgin”) round out the cast.
“Body-image anxiety becomes a literal monster in this story,” Hertz explains. “Penelope isn’t the villain — she’s the symptom. The real antagonist is the voice in Penny’s head that tells her she’s not enough. The film exaggerates these anxieties to grotesque levels, but the feelings are incredibly common.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with Breaking Glass Pictures on the North American release of Thinestra,” says Lubenova. “They’re a trusted home for elevated genre titles and immediately understood the film’s place within a new wave of body horror centered on appetite, desire, and costly physical transformation.”
Thinestra‘s festival run included Sitges, Raindance, Screamfest, Boston SciFi Film Festival, and more, earning the Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Award Grand Prize along the way.
