River: Jane Levy and Jessica Rothe in New Slasher Film
It all begins with the death of a parent, as three siblings reunite to honor them
The river where three siblings return to scatter their father's ashes could turn into the worst place to spend the night. This is the premise of River, a horror film directed by Joshua Giuliano making its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, currently underway.
Jane Levy, star of Evil Dead, and Jessica Rothe, face of the Happy Death Day saga, are part of the cast alongside Max Mattern and Dane DiLiegro. For Giuliano, this marks his feature film directorial debut.
The River Becomes a Trap
The story begins after the death of their parent, with the estranged children reuniting in their hometown and deciding to reach an isolated spot on the river particularly dear to him by boat. When the boat breaks down, the situation escalates: far from any help and without phone reception, they discover they have company in the woods.
Hunting them is a masked killer, an almost legendary figure who transforms the trip into a fight for survival. Family tensions thus take a backseat as the protagonists try to survive until dawn. Giuliano cited The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Halloween as references for the film, with the intention of recapturing the essentiality of the old slasher without merely replicating its tropes.