'Surrogate' is the new Melbourne film coming to Thornbury Picture House after selling out its premiere run at Sun Theatre Yarraville.
Surrogate is the new Melbourne paranormal horror film starring Kestie Morassi (Wolf Creek) and Jane Badler (V), about Natalie Paxton, a single mother and nurse, who falls mysteriously ill and struggles to stop her family from being destroyed.
Written by Beth King and directed by David Willing, in his feature directorial debut, Surrogate sees Morassi return to the genre that launched her career, alongside fellow actors Jane Badler and Louise Siverson (Prisoner, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries).
What you need to know
- Surrogate is the new Melbourne film coming to Thornbury Picture House
- Written by Beth King and directed by David Willing
- There’ll be screenings on Thursday 14 April and 20 April at 8:20pm, followed by writer/director Q&A
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According to the film’s director, Surrogate was Sun Theatre’s number-one film for the past two weeks in a row, selling more tickets than The Batman and Morbius combined thanks to a strong grassroots campaign for the local flick.
“My favourite horror films are great pieces of drama then add the scares, such as Ring, The Others and The Exorcist, all which influenced Surrogate,” Willing said. “Fans of horror and cinema alike can expect an exciting and terrifying ghost story with an intriguing mystery and plenty of scares in 90 minutes.”
Behind the scenes, the film’s co-writer King added “The fourth draft performed really well in script competitions, we wrote three more drafts before production, taking the story to a much scarier and darker place.”
“I was looking to do another horror film but hadn’t found the right project until I read ‘Surrogate’ and was really impressed with how well it was written,” Morassi added.
That scarier place was exemplified by the special effects makeup work of Renee Schulz, whose stomach-churning ‘Blood Rush’ scene made a crew member physically ill on set. The production also unearthed three talent child actors; Taysha Furragia – playing Morassi’s daughter, Ellie Stewart, a girl with a dangerous gift, and Ellie Tevelis.
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