News today from Variety is that Mongrel Media have boarded Anouk Whissell's psychological horror, Holi Womb, for Canadian distribution. The news comes ahead of the project’s bow at the opening pitch session at Frontières on July 23rd.
Holi Womb unfolds at a holistic retreat in Poland for single mothers-to-be, where pregnant Grace starts experiencing distressing hallucinations and noticing the strange behavior of the staff.
Anouk's brother, Yoann-Karl Whissell (Whissell Films), also part of RKSS, is on board as a producer. Maja Jacob (Maja Jacob Films) and Benoit Beaulieu (Slykid) join them. Marc Lapointe serves as executive producer.
“With ‘Turbo Kid’ and ‘Summer of 84,’ Anouk showed she could play in genre with wit and precision,” Mongrel Media co-president Andrew Frank told Variety. “‘Holi Womb’ is a bold leap – a fierce, unapologetically feminist vision that reclaims body horror with brains, blood and beauty.”“One evening Anouk pitched the concept for ‘Holi Womb,’ and I was immediately 100& on board,” Jacob recently told Variety. “We chose Poland as a filming location because I was born there and have long wanted to shoot in my motherland.” The project is in the early stages of financing as an international co-production between Canada and Poland, with plans to begin pre-production in the fall of 2026.“The richness of Polish folk culture, which is rooted in religion and paganism, its unique aesthetic, and the fascinating szeptuchas (traditional healers) are all elements relevant to my vision for ‘Holi Womb’ and the strong visual and narrative I want to create,” Whissell recently told Variety.“I want my characters to be relatable so that no matter how crazy the story gets, the audience will want to follow them,” she said of her writing process. “When I’m ready, I lock myself in the writing dungeon, put on some music and start the process of laying out the story, and do research genre is the perfect medium to push boundaries and spark discussions on serious subjects in a smart way through entertainment, without hammering in a message.”