Freaks

TBA STUDIOS TO RELEASE EXCITING AWARD-WINNING HOLLYWOOD THRILLER ‘FREAKS’

How far would you go to protect your daughter? And at what cost? 

In the sci-fi thriller Freaks, seven-year-old Chloe (played by young actress Lexy Kolker) lives her life forbidden by her father (played by Into The Wild’s Emile Hirsch) to leave their house. Her father claims there is danger lurking outside and he is only protecting her from harm. 

But something does not feel right. And the presence of an ice cream salesman (played by Academy Award for Best Actor nominee Bruce Dern) with his alluring Mr. Snowcone ice cream truck in front of their house makes Chloe believe that her father may not be telling her the truth. Mr. Snowcone explains to the Chloe to the existence of “Freaks” — people who are classified as dangerous and illegal. 

Is Chloe’s father really protecting her from harm? Is evil closer and bigger than Chloe could ever realize? 

Freaks is a highly acclaimed film that is described as critics and viewers alike as a “genre-bending” feature that will appeal to fans of thrillers looking to be shocked and surprised in the theaters. It is also a treat for viewers who want to dissect their movies and TV shows like puzzles so they can solve the mystery before the film reveals its mind-boggling twist. 

Freaks received a standing ovation during its premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 and has garnered positive attention for its directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein (who also wrote the screenplay). The Hollywood Reporter says Freaks is an achievement, a “well-integrated piece” both narratively and visually. It has since screened and won awards in other prestigious film festival such as the Vancouver International Film Festival (where Lipovsky and Stein won the BC Emerging Filmmaker award) and the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival (where it was given the Best Feature Film Award). It also won nods at the Triste Science+Fiction Festival and the Utopiales: The Nantes International Science Fiction Film Festival.

It also boasts of an impressive cast. Besides Hirsch and Dern, Freaks also stars Grace Park (TV’s Battlestar Galactica and Hawaii Five-0) and Amanda Crew (HBO’s Silicon Valley). The Hollywood Reporter praises the movie’s “tight-knit ensemble” and singles out young Kolker’s performance as the “feisty little girl determined to protect her family.” “Her semi-improvised performance couldn’t be any more authentic and she’s well matched with Hirsch, drawing on his own parental experience, as her conflicted and overprotective father. The ever-versatile Dern delivers a slyly subversive turn as Mr. Snowcone, whose hidden agenda involves much more than frozen treats,” it adds.

All of these achievements made io9 declare that Freaks is a “wonderful, exciting film.” “Stein and Lipovsky stuff Freaks with limitless imagination, finding ways to execute their loftier ambitions. It’s a film filled with complex, robust ideas that not only have a unique twist to them but a realistic grounding that makes them more relatable and impactful.” 

The movie, to be released in the United States by WellGo USA, is written and directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein. 

“Freaks” is distributed locally by TBA Studios. It will open in Philippines theaters on August 23, 2019.