Apple TV‘s Widow’s Bay is one of the biggest success stories of the year on streaming. Even though there were a handful of accomplished names attached to the project, no one could have anticipated such a quirky horror series about otherworldly forces targeting an island community would be such a hit with audiences and critics alike.
Luckily, there’s plenty more from the series on the way, as Apple TV has already confirmed we’ll be getting a second season of the series. As we wait for new episodes, key figures from the show have other projects on the horizon, such as Kingston Rumi Southwick.
The actor stars in Henry’s Ebb, written and directed by Thomas Mendolia in his feature debut. Also starring in the movie are Banks Repeta (The Black Phone), Ashley Shelton, Will Holland, Rebecca Koon, and Austin Willard. A first look at the movie has been released, which you can see above.
In the movie, Henry likes his best friend Ebb for his fearless attitude. Ebb likes Henry for his innocence, which makes sense, because Henry created him. Henry spent most of his life with Ebb, the imaginary friend who helped him survive a tumultuous childhood shaped by an early departure by his father, the death of his grandmother, and a single mother trying to hold everything together.
But Ebb is not an ordinary imaginary friend. Protective, manipulative, and fiercely loyal, Ebb has always guided Henry’s decisions, sometimes in ways that feel less like friendship and more like control. When Henry runs away in search of the father he barely remembers, Ebb comes along, pushing the boy deeper into a journey that begins as an adventure and slowly becomes something much darker.
As the two boys travel through the quiet backroads of the American South, their bond begins to fracture. The closer Henry gets to the life he hopes might exist for him, the more Ebb fights to keep things the way they’ve always been. Because Ebb was never meant to help Henry grow up. He was meant to keep Henry safe, no matter the cost. In the spirit of Stand By Me and Mud, but with haunting psychological elements, Henry’s Ebb is a haunting coming-of-age story about the things we create to survive childhood, and the moment we realize they may be the very things preventing us from growing up.
The movie has special significance for Mendolia, as it was inspired by his experience growing up in Elkin, North Carolina, which is also where the movie was filmed. He shared of the experiences, “Elkin exists in my mind as both magical and painful, and that duality felt essential to the story. I wrote it around real locations from my memory, and knew that shooting here was crucial. Henry moves through a world that is full of wonder, but also shaped by the complicated lives of the adults around him. Setting the film there allowed those two feelings to coexist in the same space.”
Stay tuned for updates on the film’s official release. The film will debut at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in November.
Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments below!