The idea started simply enough. Emily Bennett told her husband and writing partner Justin Brooks she wanted to play “a woman of unshakeable faith.” Everything that follows in “Blood Shine” — the rituals, the hammer, the light worship, the spiraling descent into something far worse than simple belief — grew out of that one sentence.
Dark Sky Films released the official trailer for the film on Wednesday, confirming an August 21 release across theaters, VOD, and digital platforms. Bloody Disgusting has the full details on the release, describing it as a “striking blend of arthouse sensibility and visceral folk horror” — language that also appears in Dark Sky’s own marketing for the film.
Set in a desolate stretch of upstate New York, the story follows Clara (Bennett), a devout zealot who performs solitary, sacred rituals centered on the worship of light. Into her world walks Brighton West, a troubled horror director — played by David Call — who’s retreated upstate to finish a screenplay and ends up drawn into something far beyond what he bargained for. Clara becomes convinced her ceremonies can transform him into something divine. He’s less certain. FirstShowing noted the trailer teases a hallucinatory descent into “faith, flesh, and the sublime,” all of it backed by practical gore effects from Brian Spears, whose credits include “Smile 2” and “American Horror Story.”
A Long Road to Release
The film has been building toward this moment for over a year. It world premiered at Popcorn Frights in Miami in August 2025, then traveled to FrightFest London before landing at Sitges, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and other international stops, per Variety’s February report on Dark Sky’s acquisition of North American rights. That deal came through earlier this year after a festival run that gave the film a genuine international footprint before it ever reached U.S. audiences.
Dread Central singled out the cast as a particular strength, noting that Fessenden, Bennett, and co-star Toby Poser have each become genre favorites in their own right. Rounding out the ensemble are Brendan Sexton III (“Session 9,” “Russian Doll”), Kyle Minshew, and Maurice P. Kerry.
Brooks, who also served as the film’s director of photography, and Bennett both wrote and directed together — the same arrangement they used on their debut feature “Alone With You,” which won a Fangoria Chainsaw Award in 2023. Fangoria’s own coverage of the new trailer framed “Blood Shine” as the natural next step for a duo that’s clearly still finding new angles in the genre, even with a Chainsaw Award already on the shelf.
The production side includes Aaron B. Koontz via Paper Street Pictures, alongside Alexander Schepsman, Garrett Fennelly, and Zeus Kontoyannis through Zeus Pictures. Michael McFadden, G. Riley Mills, and Matt Sullivan executive produce. Dark Sky executive vice president Greg Newman said in a statement that Bennett and Brooks had created something “daring and visually arresting” that “really delivers,” per Variety.
