Hiam Abbass (Succession) is set to star in Talal Selhami‘s (Achoura) horror film, The Shelter (Le Refuge).

Abbass will play Leila, a former concert pianist from Syrian city Aleppo, which bore much of the brunt of the ghastly Syrian Civil War (2011-24). Now living in exile in Paris, she works as a caregiver for Georges, a diplomat nearing the end of his life.

“Within the confines of his opulent apartment, filled with relics of colonial memory, Leila begins to experience ghostly visitations from her late husband and son,” “The Shelter’s” synopsis runs. “At first tender, these apparitions gradually take on a sinister form, blurring the lines between trauma and madness, memory and haunting. As the echo of distant bombs returns, the walls between Georges’s apartment and Leila’s lost home begin to collapse.”

The psychological horror will be pitched at Fantasia’s Frontières International Co-Production Market, running July 23-26.

It is produced by Sophia Menni at top Moroccan production house La Prod. founded by Lamia Chraibi.

Variety first reported on Abbass’ casting.