Though I'm not at SXSW myself there are a small handful of titles that I'm particularly eager to see reactions from the fest going crowd on and topping that list is Gerard Johnstone's dark Kiwi comedy
Housebound.
Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the house she grew up in when the
court places her on home detention. Her punishment is made all the more
unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her mother Miriam -- a
well-intentioned blabbermouth who's convinced that the house is
haunted. Kylie dismisses Miriam's superstitions as nothing more than a
distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables & small town
gossip. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers &
strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder whether she's
inherited her overactive imagination, or if the house is in fact
possessed by a hostile spirit who's not particularly thrilled about her
return.
I've had a chance to see the film [XYZ Films, where I'm a partner is representing it for North American sales] so I know what people are about to walk into when it premieres tonight and I'm hoping audiences there are just as smitten with Johnstone's blend of sly comedy, character and scares as I am. And if you want to know if you might be, well,
take a look at the first clip of the film that premiered on IndieWire today featuring a particularly anxious trip to the lavatory for the film's leading lady,