Verve Pictures picks up Inland starring Mark Rylance

Verve Pictures has announced that it has acquired the critically acclaimed feature debut Inland starring Rory Alexander, Mark Rylance and Kathryn Hunter and written and directed by Fridtjof Ryder which will be released in UK cinemas in June 2023. It celebrated its World Premiere in last year’s BFI London Film Festival in the Official Selection category and was nominated for the Raindance Discovery Award. The release is supported by funding from the BFI with its First Feature Distribution Support Scheme.

INLAND also stars Eleanor Holliday, Alexander Lincoln, Nell Williams and Shaun Dingwall and is produced by Henry Richmond, Louis Paine and Fridtjof Ryder in association with Twenty 20 Media, Fablemaze, Fatcontman, Dva Films, ShakespeareRoad and Zebrafish Media. Executive producers are: Trudie Styler, Sam Tromans, Ian Dawson, Zak Brilliant, Guy Davies, Matt Cook, Toby Cook, Thomas Atherton, Dougal Mackenzie Smith, Shaun Dingwall and Mark Rylance.

INLAND is a modern folktale that explores the fractured identity of a young man after the mysterious disappearance of his mother. Guided by a father figure and old friends who care deeply, his journey through the dreamlike spaces of rural England brings him face to face with the loss that haunts him in ways he could never have expected.

Mark Rylance, Academy Award Winner and Inland Executive Producer said “This film wakes me at night. It contains a very old connection to the Green Man rituals of Carnivale, when someone would dress up as the Green Man and emerge from the deep forest to rampage through the town. This version is really scary and powerful, as it should be. There is a beautiful expression of the unconscious energy of nature in man. It reminds me of Eraserhead and Blue Velvet and films I loved but don’t see many of any more. I am disturbed and excited by it at once.”

Writer/Director Fridtjof Ryder said “I am honoured to be partnering with Verve Pictures on our UK cinema release. As a filmmaker and a cinephile, Verve’s history stretches far back to films both formative and deeply important to me. Working with them is a dream come true.”

Paul Ridd, Head BFI LFF Programmer said “Fridtjof Ryder makes a striking, boldly cinematic debut with this intense puzzle piece. Tensions, repressed memories and desires threaten to surface when a young man (Rory Alexander) is released from psychiatric hospital. Elegantly shot, intuitively edited, and expertly sound-mixed with a haunting score, Ryder conjures an experience that moves with the logic of a nightmare, building towards an unforgettable, strangely moving conclusion. Making vivid use of location filming in the heart of Gloucestershire, this refreshingly offbeat film draws heavily from the work of David Lynch, Nicolas Roeg and rural horror cinema, but has a mood and feel entirely of its own. Shot on a micro-budget and featuring superb performances from newcomer Alexander and Mark Rylance, this is exciting filmmaking from a new voice in British cinema.”