‘The Tribe’ Director Roxy Shih Set to Helm Thriller ‘Painkillers’ — Exclusive
No stranger to the independent circuit, Roxy Shih is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker who has screened her work at acclaimed festivals such as the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, SXSW, Toronto Independent, and Dances with Films.
“The Tribe,” her debut feature film, earned her various awards, including Best Director at Other Worlds Austin. Having just recently wrapped production on the first season of the new sci-fi anthology series “Dark / Web,” Shih has now been tapped to take on her second feature: the genre-twisting thriller “Painkillers.” The film is written by Giles Daoust, best known for his screenwriting work on genre pictures like “The Room” (no, not that “The Room” and “Artifacts”).
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Luke Barnett and Vincent Masciale will produce under their Lone Suspect banner, alongside Daoust and Catherine Dumonceaux on behalf of Title Media. Mike Macari and Alain Berliner are executive producing. The film marks the most recent collaboration between Lone Suspect and Title, who recently partnered on the Tribeca premiere “Fear, Inc.”
According to the film’s official synopsis, “Painkillers” picks up “after a terrible car crash in which his son dies, brilliant surgeon John Clarke, tormented by guilt, becomes prey to an unbearable physical pain. While his marriage starts disintegrating, John soon finds out that the only thing that can ease his pain is the taste of human blood. When he encounters Herb Morris, a man who claims he can help him get his life back, John embarks upon a nightmarish journey through which he will either have to come to terms with his pain…or become a monster.”
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Production for the film is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2017 and casting announcements are expected soon.
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