The first major acquisition of the ongoing 41st Toronto International Film Festival is Greg McLean’s The Belko Experiment, which was snapped up by Orion and BH Tilt.
Wolf Creek/Rogue/The Darkness helmer McLean directed the film from a script by Guardians of the Galaxy/Slither director James Gunn, who also produces. The film has a pretty storming cast that includes genre icon and Gunn regular Michael Rooker as well as Tony Goldwyn (Friday the 13th Part VI, 2009’s The Last House on the Left), John C. McGinley (Scrubs, Office Space), Adria Arjona (True Detective), John Gallagher Jr. (10 Cloverfield Lane, Hush) and Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Super).
Synopsis:
On what appears to be a normal day at Belko Industries, Belko employees are horrified when they find out that they’ve become guinea pigs in a company-wide experiment which will lead them to either kill their fellow employees or be murdered themselves. The experiment is masterminded by a mysterious voice which is controlling the loud speaker and instructing the employees to slaughter each other by any means necessary.
The Belko Experiment premiered on Saturday as part of TIFF’s Midnight Madness programme. “Midnight Madness is the destination for those who love to sink their teeth into excessive, unrelenting, weird and wild films,” said International Programmer for the Festival Colin Geddes, who described McLean’s latest as “ruthlessly violent.”
The Belko Experiment is due to hit US cinemas on March 17th, 2017.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
