Anna Biller's 'The Face of Horror' Premieres at TIFF Midnight Madness — SkimNews
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- Anna Biller wrote and directed 'The Face of Horror,' which premiered at TIFF's Midnight Madness section — her first feature in a decade following 2016's 'The Love Witch'
- The film reimagines the Japanese Kabuki ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan as a medieval-era tale of love, betrayal, and ghostly vengeance, running 2 hours with Embankment Films handling sales
- Jonah Hauer-King stars as the villainous knight Edward, who murders Eleanor's father after being refused her hand, then manipulates her into marriage before pursuing widowed noblewoman Isabel (Bella Heathcote)
- Kristine Frøseth plays the naive, postpartum Eleanor, whose decline drives Edward toward Isabel, who in turn plots Eleanor's murder — setting up the film's bloody, ghostly vengeance climax
- Ellie Bamber delivers what the review calls a breakout performance as Eleanor's strong-willed sister Beatrice, whose quest to avenge her sister anchors the operatic final act
- The review frames the film as Biller's 'stunning cinematic ode to Hollywood's technicolor era,' pitching it as a feminist, camp-meets-Shakespearean drama for cinephiles hungry for old-fashioned filmmaking
Why it matters: Biller's first feature in a decade — and her first since 'The Love Witch' became a cult phenomenon — gives indie distributors a high-concept TIFF Midnight Madness title with Embankment Films already attached for international sales. For buyers heading into AFM and the European festival market, this is the first legitimate Biller film to acquire since 2016, and its feminist-vengeance pitch positions it for the same repertory and genre-cinema audience that drove her earlier cult success.
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