Motion Picture Exchange (MPX) has acquired world sales rights to U.S. indie horror film “Swipe,” directed by Sean Whalen and featuring a murderous family of sadistic mute women.
MPX will be presenting the female-driven chiller to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Marché du Film.
“Swipe” is the second feature by actor-director Whalen, whose acting credits include “Twister.” Whalen previously directed the well-received horror film “Crust,” about a lonely laundromat owner who keeps leftover socks from customers, which is playing on major streaming platforms in the U.S. and currently has a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Swipe” centers on a young woman named Rina trying to save her brother Mike from a sadistic, mute family of female captors after a dating app hook-up leads to his abduction.
Rina and Mike’s friends’ search draws them to the isolated Doyle property that is “the home of an elderly matriarch, Abigail, and her three mute daughters; Marla, Willa and Elsa, who live by their own brutal code,” the synopsis says. “Shaped by years of abuse and driven by vengeance, they don’t just hunt men…they punish them. Rina must outsmart this sadistic family, who has taken their suffering and turned it into their own brand of playful revenge.”
The “Swipe” cast comprises Hana Mae Lee (“Pitch Perfect”), Elaine Hendrix (“Parent Trap”), Ray Santiago (“Meet the Fockers”), Dominique Columbus (“Road House”), Alex Rich (“The Patient”), Phillip Garcia (“Clean Slate”), Rebekah Kennedy (“Traumatika”), Bryan Fitzgerald (“American Rust”) and Whalen.
The film is produced by Whalen and partner Sheena Whalen for MSYL Productions, and Rebekah Kennedy and Brandon Davis for Slight Entertainment. Chris Sergi (“A Wounded Fawn”) also produces.
The “Swipe” screenplay is by Mark Mardini.
“‘Swipe’ is very special to me for two distinctive reasons,” Whalen said in a statement. “One, in the late ’90s a graduate from Chapman film program [Mardini] wanted to have lunch with me to tell me that he would like to write a movie so I could have bigger roles because he felt I was not being utilized in Hollywood. We worked together for years on a few projects, including an award-winning short film. Mark Mardini became a dear friend. We remained friends and years later he wrote this wonderful script and I had the opportunity to help get it made.”
He added, “The second reason is, I am so excited to give the world four sadistic women that are right up there with Michael Myers and Ghost Face. I fear that this is lacking in the horror space and I’m so glad to be able to tip the scales a little and give four iconic women characters that are just as terrifying as the murderous screen villains of all time.”
Commented MPX president and co-founder Ryan Bury: “In ‘Swipe,’ Sean Whalen takes another confident step forward behind the camera, delivering a sharp and enthralling horror film with an unpredictable edge. In horror, unique characters matter, and my God has Sean and the team created a memorable group of murderous women that I’m confident will be Halloween and Con costumes for years to come.”
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