‘Vermin,’ a Horror Movie with Real Spiders, Boarded by Charades, WTFilms (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy
·3 min read

Charades and WTFilms have teamed on “Vermin,” a horror movie set in the French projects with a cast of local up-and-coming actors, who star alongside real spiders.

The movie will mark the feature debut of Sébastien Vaniček, who previously directed critically acclaimed shorts such as “Mayday.” Harry Tordjman at My Box Films (“Bref,” “A voix haute”) is producing.

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“Vermin” stars Théo Christine (“Suprêmes”), Finnegan Oldfield (“Final Cut”), Jérôme Niel (“Smoking Causes Coughing”), Sofia Lesaffre (“Les Misérables”) and Lisa Nyarko.

The film is currently in shooting in Paris, with a March 3 end date. It will distributed in France by Tandem. France Télévisions pre-bought the movie and Netflix got the pay TV window in France.

“Vermin” is set in an underprivileged suburb that has been thrown into chaos following an invasion of venomous spiders. Ordered to be placed in quarantine, the project sees inhabitants living on lockdown alongside terrifying spiders that are becoming bigger and bigger.

The story revolves around Kaleb, who’s about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He’s fighting with his sister over a matter of inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Passionate about exotic animals, he comes home one day with a venomous spider and accidentally let it slip away.

“Vermin” is co-written by Florent Bernard, whose credits include projects appealing to young audiences, notably “La Flamme,” “Le Flambeau” and “Bloqués.”

“I first wanted to produce this film because I immediately felt its entertaining potential and its powerful meaning, which makes it universal,” said Tordjman, whose banner MyBox previously delivered the Cesar-nominated documentary “A voix haute,” “Rosy” and “The Hookup Plan” for Netflix.

“But I also (wanted to produce it) because it’s directed by Sébastien, with his incisive style, his meticulous artistic direction, his desire and his love for cinema … Everything that makes him one of the great directors of the next generation,” Tordjman continued.

Vaniček said “Vermin” was a “very personal film which depicts the French suburbs [he knows], far from the eeriness of the auteur films or the caricature of the comedies.”

“It’s a genre film that shakes you to your core, moves you, makes you shiver, because it seems to me that through emotions you end up concerned and involved,” he continued. The young helmer also aims to reach a wide audience “Vermin.” He said he wanted to make “a movie that’s worth your ticket, a spectacle worth showing up for.”

“It’s a project we’ve all been waiting for: a French spider movie fed by the energy of an immensely talented debut director, here is a film that can revolutionize the genre and has the ability to crossover to mainstream and cinephile audiences,” said Pierre Mazars, Charades’ co-founder.

Dimitri Stephanides, WTFilms’ co-founder, said “Vermin” is “full of scares, impressive visuals and ambitious set pieces.”

“It’s been a while there hasn’t been a real spider movie and ‘Vermin’ won’t disappoint,” he added. “Like all great horror, the subtext and the characters will pull you into the movie. We feel Sebastien has what it takes to become the next Alexandre Aja,” Stephanides continued.

WTFilms’s Berlinale slate includes Jennifer Reeder’s “Perpetrator” which plays in the Panorama section, as well as “Apaches” by Romain Quirot, and Jerôme Dassier’s thriller “Let Her Kill You” starring Asia Argento.

Charades’ roster includes Charlotte Regan’s “Scrapper” which just won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and “Disco Boy,” Giacomo Abbruzzese’s debut drama which is competing at the Berlinale. Other Charades titles include “Upon Entry,” a psychological thriller by Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez and “Northern Comfort,” a comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson with Lydia Leonard, Timothy Spall and Ella Rumpf. Both will play at SXSW in March.

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