Happy Face – Watch the trailer for new thriller

Director Alexandre Franchi’s award-winning thriller Happy Face hits US cinemas and digital this January. Direct from a lauded festival run, the powerful film combines a thrilling story while exploring the importance of facial equality and representation.

Estranged from his manipulative cancer-stricken mother, Stan, a quixotic 19-year-old, dons a disguise and joins a therapy workshop for disfigured patients in a misguided attempt to reconnect with her. But when his deception is revealed, Stan, who is desperate to gain coping skills to care for his disease-ravaged mother, offers the afflicted patients a bargain: he stays with the group, and in exchange he teaches them how feel good about themselves : by using their “ugliness” as a weapon against our beauty-obsessed culture.

Alan saw the film at last year’s FrightFest. He said the film “was a compelling and bittersweet gem about longing to belong that lingers in your heart and thoughts long after the credits have rolled.” You can read the full review here.

The film features music from the Violent Femmes & more.

Robin L’Homeau, Alison Midstokke, E.R. Ruiz, Debbie Lynch-White, and Dean Perseo star in Happy Face, releasing in virtual theaters January 1 and on digital January 5 from Dark Star Pictures.