Shudder acquires satirical body horror Grafted and sets January 2025 release
Shudder has just announced that it acquired the North American, UK, and Ireland rights to Sasha Rainbow’s feature debut, Grafted. The streaming giant also announced that it will be releasing the film on its platform early next year. This news comes ahead of the movie's Spanish premiere at the 2024 Sitges Film Festival, which is happening this weekend.
Grafted is described as a satirical body horror film. Rainbow, who has previously helmed short films, directed this movie from a script she co-wrote with Mia Maramara, Hweiling Ow, and Lee Murray. In addition, Murray Francis and Leela Menon are signed on as producers with Fraser Brown executive producing.
Rainbow expressed her excitement about partnering with Shudder via a Shudder press release:
"Partnering with Shudder is a dream come true—for those of us who like our dreams dark and full of twists, and there’s no better place to unleash Grafted than with the curators of terror themselves. I can’t wait for their fearless audience to sink their teeth into this one and experience Wei’s wild and bloody pursuit of perfection."
- Sasha Rainbow
The film centers around a shy and introverted Chinese scholarship student named Wei, who moves to New Zealand to study medical research at a top-tier university. Wei has a genetic facial birthmark, and she's very insecure about it. It doesn't help that her popular cousin and her friends avoid her at all costs.
Fed up with her situation, Wei decides that she wants to change her fate. She wants to get rid of her deformity, and the way she goes about doing so is by looking into her late father's research. Using her father's research, she begins working on a revolutionary skin grafting procedure that will help rid her of her birthmark. But as her experiments begin to take a dark turn, Wei becomes increasingly unhinged, wanting so desperately to achieve the popularity she craves.
Joyena Sun stars in the leading role of socially awkward college student Wei, while Jess Hong plays Wei's cousin, Angela. Joining them in the cast are Jared Turner, Eden Hart, Sepiutaruth To’a, Ginette McDonald, and Mark Mitchinson.
Check out the gripping official trailer below!
Grafted will be released on Shudder on January 24, 2025. Don't forget to mark your calendar!
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