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Buzzy zombie horror Rapture, which HanWay Films will be launching for the Cannes market, will be lead by Will Poulter (Midsommar, Death of a Unicorn), Kit Connor (Heartstopper) and Manu Ríos (Elite), Deadline reports today.
The feature debut from playwright and director Jordan Tannahil, Rapture is set in Medieval England, in a town ravaged by a mysterious plague:
In the year 1348, the story alights on Lansley Abbey, a remote stone monastery in Yorkshire, which houses ten monks bound by a life of strict routine and devotion. Their fragile peace is disrupted by the arrival of a messenger – a man with haunting news from the outside world who rapidly shows symptoms of a mystery illness. A virulent plague is spreading through the land: marked initially by a hemorrhagic fever, it turns its victims into “revenants” — restless, undead beings.
As the contagion closes in, Lansley Abbey becomes a battleground: desperate outsiders beg for refuge while the infected threaten to overrun its walls. The monks are torn apart by a moral rift — between those who believe they must care for the sick and those who want to protect the centuries of knowledge safe-guarded by the monastery. As death is fully unleashed, so too is the brothers’ capacity for extraordinary acts of altruism and ruthless betrayal, forcing them to confront the ultimate question: what does it mean to be human?
Rapture, which is due to start filming later this year in Hungary, marks a reunion for Poulter and Connor, who both starred in Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s Warfare earlier this year.
Per Deadline, producers are Elevation Pictures (Infinity Pool), 2AM (Past Lives) and Brookstreet Pictures (The Brutalist). Eli Arenson (Lamb) is attached as director of photography.
In a statement, Gabrielle Stewart, CEO of HanWay Films, has this to say of the period piece horror:
“We have all been blown away by the vision Jordan has for Rapture. It is rare to have such an atmospheric and terrifying zombie horror film that inhabits such an authentic historical world, with complex characters grappling with the biggest moral dilemmas. It is no wonder he has already attracted such great casting in Will, Kit and Manu with more to come, backed by top tier producers.”
Funnily enough, Rapture‘s Medieval England-set zombie story aligns similarly with the upcoming video game, God Save Birmingham. Is a British zombie horror renaissance on the horizon? Watch this space!
