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The Stolen Child – Watch the trailer for the new medieval fantasy film

The Stolen Child is from writer-director, Sebastian McKinnon, who is also an illustrator for Magic: The Gathering. The film was inspired by The Lord of The Rings and Stalker.

Overwhelmed by grief and fear, the child’s plight moves the Faerie Queen, who compassionately spirits him away to the Faerie State, to preserve his innocence. Yet, this well-meaning act unwittingly deepens the crisis in the Human Realm. As the balance between the two worlds crumbles, a unique band of heroes emerges: The Poet, The Knight, The Horse, and The Fae Princess. United by a common cause, they embark on a journey to locate the lost Prince and restore him to his rightful throne, in hopes of rekindling the equilibrium between the Human and Faerie worlds.

Speaking to Variety, McKinnon said the idea for the film happened during a back-packing trip across Scotland with his brother Benjamin.

While walking in the Scottish Highlands, these characters just popped into my head, and they felt like very archetypal characters. I realized that they appeared in old paintings I’d seen and stories I had heard about and was so fascinated by growing up. I’ve always been intrigued by Celtic myth and anything to do with the Faerie Realm.

What I really loved about ‘Stalker’ was this sense of eeriness and mystery. Like when they walk into the ‘Zone,’ and they’re being led by the Stalker, and they’re in a natural environment, and yet you feel that there’s some sort of danger around them. When I watched that film, it aligned with when I was reading about fairy tales and these old legends. This is what I wanted it to feel like when walking through the Faerie World. In our case, we’re using the natural landscapes of Canada, and British Columbia especially, to depict the Faerie World. And what I want to do is have characters wandering around this lush green, fern-ridden forest, and there’s this presence behind the scenes.

We have to feel like there’s an intelligence or a presence at all times when you’re in the Faerie World and that’s why we went to British Columbia. I remember walking in those forests for the first time and feeling that energy there, especially when you’re there during the stormy season. You can’t help but feel there’s something here, there’s some sort of energy or presence in the forest that I really wanted to try to capture for the movie.

The brothers worked on the idea and it became a series of three short films, before becoming this full feature. Sadly, Benjamin never got to see the final film.

In the summer of 2016, a year after the trilogy’s release, I experienced the profound loss of my brother, my best friend, to suicide. His last words to me were to continue to create magic with film. His motto, ‘Dream, Rise, Ignite,’ has become my guiding force, and the mission to complete this cinematic journey has been my dedication ever since. This film is both for me and for him, in honor of our brotherhood, and our profound love for the stories that shaped our childhood. Truly, it is my deepest wish to create the best fantasy film since ‘The Lord of the Rings.’

The Stolen Child will premiere at the European Film Market in Berlin and will hopefully get a 2026 release date.

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