Is this the buzziest thriller at the American Film Market this year? Deadline reports that John Michael McDonagh‘s “Fear Is The Rider” is in Las Vegas looking for deals. And with its cast and premise, the film will get snatched up fast: this ode to Ozploitation sounds too good for anyone to pass up.
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Based on Gabriel Bergmoser‘s novel “The Hunted,” “Fear Is The Rider” follows a lone woman in the Australian outback looking for her missing mother who starts getting stalked by a family of serial killers. If that makes you think of Aussie classics like “Wake In Fright” and “Road Games,” that’s the point: McDonagh envisions the film as the first of a trilogy, with the second based on a novel by “Wake In Fright” author Kenneth Cook.
Then there’s the cast list for “Fear Is The Rider”: a who’s who of excellent Australian character actors. Ben Mendelsohn, Abbey Lee, Toby Wallace, and Eliza Scanlen take the lead roles in the film, although it’s unclear who plays the female lead. Secondary cast includes Daniel Henshall, Brenton Thwaites, Thomas Turgoose, Rhys Wakefield, Shane Jacobson, Susie Porter, and Jacqui Purvis.
McDonagh produces “Fear Is The Rider” with Elizabeth Eves through their House Of Un-American Activities banner. Trevor Matthew and Nick Gordon also produce through Brookstreet Pictures, as well as Kate Glover. Film Constellation and CAA Media Finance are handling the film’s sales at AFM.
“Fear Is The Rider” will be McDonagh’s fifth feature film and his first since 2021’s little-seen “The Forgiven.” Audiences may know him best for 2014’s “Calvary” with Brendan Gleeson, which won awards at Sundance and the Berlinale.
McDonagh plans to start shooting “Fear Is The Rider” in Australia in early 2025, so expect this one on the festival circuit in early 2026.