Over the weekend, horror fans from all across the world came together at Odeon Leicester Square to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film festival, Pigeon Shrine FrightFest. During the five days of celebrations, FrightFest screened around seventy genre offerings, new and old. Amongst them was Mitzi Peirone’s Saint Clare.
Our review from the festival praised Saint Clare, citing it as ‘a Southern Gothic teen noir with horror affectations’ and mentioning how ‘wickedly rich and rewarding’ watching Saint Clare is. Based on a novel by Don Roff, Saint Clare is expertly helmed by award-winning Italian director Mitzi Peirone (Braid) who co-wrote the screenplay with Guinevere Turner (American Psycho). The stellar cast includes Bella Thorne (Midnight Sun, Infamous) Ryan Philippe (Crash, Cruel Intentions), Rebecca DeMornay (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Risky Business), Frank Whaley (Broken Arrow, Pulp Fiction), and Bart Johnson (High School Musical). The film features an original soundtrack by Zola Jesus.
In a small town, a solitary young woman is haunted by voices that lead her to assassinate people with bad intentions who think they can get away with it. But her last kill changes everything and sucks her headlong down a rabbit hole riddled with corruption, trafficking, and twisted visions from the beyond. Can Saint Clare save herself from unimaginable terror as her pursuit for retribution takes a dangerous turn, carrying her deep into an unknown hell?
Saint Clare’s director and co-writer Mitzi Peirone was at FrightFest with her movie, and THN were able to steal a few moments with her on the media wall. Here’s what she had to say about adapting Don Roff’s story and working with Saint Clare’s leading actor, Bella Thorne.
Saint Clare had its UK Premiere at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024 and will be released on digital via 101 Films later this year – date TBC.
