Marché du Film: David Denneen’s RAVENSWOOD, starring Teresa Palmer

Here’s a description of Ravenswood from the website of production company FGE Holdings (Film Graphics Entertainment Holdings Pty. Ltd.): “Not since Dead Calm has Australia had its own indigenous thriller where ordinary people are thrown into extraordinary circumstances with nail-biting results.

Ravenswood is an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller where the audience will never be quite sure who has the upper hand. It’s ironic that two young lovers - Ron and Dale - on the run from the law pick, of all houses, Andrew’s to avoid being captured. An agoraphobic, Andrew is himself a prisoner hiding his own dark secrets. And there begins our journey.

Ron and Dale take Andrew hostage. To ensure his survival, Andrew needs to get them money; however, to get the money, Dale must pose as his missing fiancée and visit the local bank. We get to know these three characters intimately, and to know what has caused them to become who they are, but throughout the movie new revelations about their true natures will come to light.

We care about Andrew throughout the movie, and we fight just as hard for him as he does to survive Ron’s vicious attacks. Although the audience will think they have anticipated it several times, they will be totally blindsided by the ‘real’ ending, and the true depths of Andrew’s complexities.”

Here’s a description of Ravenswood from the website of marketing and public relations agency Tsuki Pty. Ltd.: ”Ravenswood is a noir psychological thriller, filled with exhilarating twists, that quickly establishes its artistic contract with the audience. Two fugitives on the run from a murder scene take hostage an agoraphobic art dealer with a dark past of his own. Almost the entire movie involves these three characters in a violent game of psychological strategy. Time and again in the movie, the story would be over if someone - anyone - simply pulled the trigger.

Captive by way of taking refuge in a magnificent country estate, Dale (Palmer) and Ron (Fimmel) find themselves inferior participants in a game of survival. Dale, a stripper, is resentful of the way she has been treated in the past. Their hostage, Andrew (Moyer), appears to represent everything she’s never been able to have, but has wanted. Ron, impulsive and out of control, loves Dale and will do whatever he can to take her away from her old life. Andrew is an agoraphobic art dealer who has been living alone in his house since Gabrielle, his fiancée, disappeared six months prior. He takes a perverse liking to his new-found companions: a competitive mateship with Ron, and a desire to morph Dale into Gabrielle.

Ravenswood generates genuine tension, because the story is so simple and the performances are so strong. Palmer, Moyer, and Fimmel’s dynamic on-screen chemistry magnifies the spreading sense of agoraphobia and pending implosion as the fugitives lose control.”

Those who are interested in Ravenswood may also wish to read the Twitch article on Cheyenne Carron’s Twisted Souls (Ecorchés).

Ravenswood trailer (downloadable 5.5 MB MOV file)

Ravenswood trailer page