UK-based independent production/distribution company B7 Media has announced completion of principal photography on the feature film The Cuckoo in the Clock, a low-budget indie Canadian production by Rattlesnake Films.
A taut psychological thriller set in an isolated home in Maine in the dead of winter, The Cuckoo in the Clock was written and directed by Paul Kimball, and produced by John Rosborough, with B7 principal Andrew Mark Sewell as Executive Producer. It features Jacob James, Nicole Steeves and Brittany Jean Blake.
“The Cuckoo in the Clock opens with two women, Dini and Lara, wandering about in the middle of the woods with a mysterious satchel,” explains Kimball. “They’re lovers on the run from something really bad that’s happened to them in their dead-end lives, and they wind up taking shelter in an isolated vacation home that’s closed for the season. Their dream is to get away to a tropical island somewhere, so that they can start their lives over, but as the story unfolds they encounter the mysterious owner of the house, which leads to a battle with something far more dangerous and potentially deadly than the situation from which they fled – their own insecurities, greed and jealousy.”
“I was attracted to the script because it doesn’t pull any punches,” notes Sewell, who was on location in Nova Scotia for the entire production. “It drops you in the middle of nowhere with these two incredibly flawed women, and then takes you through a series of twists and turns that you just don’t see coming. The dialogue crackles, and the performances by three young up-and-coming actors were spot on, particularly by Jacob James, who combines charm and menace in a dynamic performance. It’s violent and sexy and thought-provoking – in short, everything that a really clever psychological thriller should be.”
B7’s début feature was the critically-acclaimed Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, but the company is perhaps best known for the re-imagined sci-fi franchise Blake’s 7, currently in development for SyFy and continuing to run as a successful series of reimagined audio adventures on BBC Radio 4 Extra. Kimball and Sewell are also slated to collaborate on the feature film Rubicon in 2013, which will feature Natalie Dormer (The Tudors) and Francesca Annis (Dune), with Jacob James in a key supporting role.