Following its SXSW premiere earlier this year, Peter Cilella's feature debut Descendent gets an official trailer before hitting theaters nationwide and VOD on August 15 via RLJE Films.
Produced by filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Moon Knight, Spring, Something in the Dirt) alongside their Rustic Films cohort David Lawson Jr., the alien abduction thriller stars Ross Marquand (The Walking Dead, Invincible) and Sarah Bolger (Mayans M.C.).
An official logline reads as follows:
Set in present-day Los Angeles, DESCENDENT follows Sean Bruner, a school security guard who is haunted by childhood trauma while preparing for the birth of his first child with his wife, Andrea. After a beam of light appears in the sky during a late-night shift, Sean wakes up in the hospital with an inexplicable talent for vivid, unsettling drawings of extraterrestrials and desert landscapes. As his visions blur the line between dreams and reality, Sean’s grip on sanity unravels. With time running out, he must confront his fears to escape his family’s tragic legacy.
Previously, Chief Acquisitions Officer of RLJE Films Mark Ward compared Descendent to another disturbing alien movie:
“We look forward to releasing DESCENDENT alongside Peter Cilella, who delivers a gripping fusion of suspense and sci-fi, offering audiences a deeply personal story wrapped in cosmic fears that harkens to FIRE IN THE SKY. With its haunting atmosphere, the film taps into primal fears of parenthood, destiny, and forces beyond our control,”
Producing alongside Benson, Moorhead and Lawson are Caleb Ward, with executive producers Arianne Fraser, Delphine Perrier and Henry Winterstern for Highland Film Group, and Mark Ward.
Watch the first trailer for Descendent below, and look out for the pic on its limited opening release on August 8, before going wide on August 15.
