Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Me Before You), Marlon Williams (Sweet Tooth, The Twelve”), Victoria Pedretti (You, The Haunting of Bly Manor), and Natascha McElhone (The Truman Show, The Crown) star in James Ashcroft’s (The Rule of Jenny Pen) upcoming horror feature When Darkness Loves Us.

Cornerstone has acquired international sales rights to the film and will handle sales and distribution, excluding New Zealand and Australia, on behalf of Bleecker Street.

Based on Elizabeth Engstrom’s cult 1980s novella of the same name, When Darkness Loves Us is described as a “visually striking and psychologically charged horror story.”

The story follows a young woman (Clarke) who, after surviving 15 years trapped in an underground cave system, returns to the surface to reclaim the family she believes is hers, no matter the monstrous cost.

Ashcroft co-wrote the screenplay with Hayley Sproull and Eli Kent. The film is produced by Desray Armstrong (Coming Home in the Dark, Bad Behaviour).

Executive producers include Ant Timpson, Ashcroft, Clarke, Katherine Bridle, Bleecker Street’s Kent Sanderson and Tyler DiNapoli, and Umbrella Entertainment’s Ari Harrison and Jasmin McSweeney. Nicola Smith and Bleecker Street’s Miranda King serve as associate producers.

The project is financed by the New Zealand Film Commission, Images & Sound, and the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate, with financing cash flowed by Hinterland and Natixis Coficiné. Umbrella Entertainment will distribute the film in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Bleecker Street has a U.S. release planned for 2027.