This film is part of Rentals
The Severed Sun
A pastor’s daughter in an isolated religious community kills her abusive husband, unleashing the force of a supernatural Beast.
Director: Dean Puckett
Overview
In an isolated religious community, a pastor delivers fervent sermons to a devoted congregation. When his daughter Magpie kills her abusive husband in the forest, she unwittingly unleashes a malevolent force: a supernatural Beast. As suspicion and paranoia unfurl through the community, accusatory fingers are pointed at Magpie. A brutal witch hunt ignites, as the Beast leaves a trail of carnage.
Dean Puckett’s debut feature is a gripping tale of faith, fear, and the darkness within. Loyalties are tested as the community hurtles toward self-destruction, with ideas of right and wrong deliberately left ambiguous – as is the film’s setting in time. Understated yet effective, the horror is elevated by striking cinematography, beautifully eerie landscapes and unsettling reflections on the lure of mob mentality.
Related
Alpha Alpha
Horror 2025 128 mins Director: Julia Ducournau
Julia Ducournau follows her Palme d’Or-winning Titane with this powerful family drama starring Tahar Rahim and Golshifteh Farahani.
The Woman in Black The Woman in Black
Horror 2012 95 mins Director: James Watkins
A young solicitor, administering the will of a recently dead old lady, is drawn into a sinister web of events centring on her abandoned house.
Tiger Stripes Tiger Stripes
Horror 2023 95 mins Director: Amanda Nell Eu
Nothing is quite as scary as puberty in this exuberant feminist pre-teen body horror from first time Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins Director: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Out of Darkness Out of Darkness
Horror 2024 87 mins Director: Andrew Cumming
Bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘period film’, Andrew Cumming’s Palaeolithic horror movie is a true original.
Ellis Park Ellis Park
Documentary 2024 106 mins Director: Justin Kurzel
Snowtown director Justin Kurzel’s first foray into documentary is an intimate portrait of iconic Australian musician and composer Warren Ellis.
Alpha Alpha
Horror 2025 128 mins Director: Julia Ducournau
Julia Ducournau follows her Palme d’Or-winning Titane with this powerful family drama starring Tahar Rahim and Golshifteh Farahani.
Baby Baby
Drama 2024 106 mins Director: Marcelo Caetano
São Paulo’s streets can offer danger or opportunity, and for Baby, a young gay man carving out his own existence, they deliver both.
Seeking Mavis Beacon Seeking Mavis Beacon
Documentary 2024 102 mins Director: Jazmin Jones
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions of people touch typing in the late 80s and through the 90s. But who was the real Mavis Beacon?
Wind, Tide & Oar Wind, Tide & Oar
Documentary 2024 84 mins Director: Huw Wahl
Huw Wahl’s immersive, meditative exploration into engineless sailing, shot over three years with a 1960s hand-wound camera.
Sudan, Remember Us Sudan, Remember Us
Documentary 2024 78 mins Director: Hind Meddeb
An award-winning documentary following young activists in Sudan as they oppose a military crackdown.
A Quiet Passion A Quiet Passion
Biopic 2017 125 mins Director: Terence Davies
Terence Davies' elegant and deeply moving biopic of poet Emily Dickinson, played with sensitivity and rebellious spirit by Cynthia Nixon.
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Chambermaid The Chambermaid
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés provides an engaging, behind-closed-doors look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels.
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
Crimes of the Future Crimes of the Future
Science Fiction 2022 108 mins Director: David Cronenberg
Cronenberg’s fully-fledged return to body horror and the cinema of transgression.
Wilding Wilding
Documentary 2024 75 mins Director: David Allen
A dying landscape is healed against all odds, going on to thrive in astonishing ways, in this hopeful story of ecological regeneration.