Icon Hugo Weaving is among the Australian and Kiwi cast for Seymour Pictures’ upcoming erotic thriller feature “Hold Still,” with production underway in New Zealand.
Marking 25-year-old Orla Doyle’s directorial debut, “Hold Still” follows a young photographer Claire, played by newcomer Julia Gardell, haunted by a premonition of her own death. She arrives at an isolated artist’s residency in New Zealand, where she falls for a reclusive deer hunter, played by Arlo Green (“Miles from Nowhere,” “Spit”), but the lines between desire and dread begin to blur. She begins to suspect that fate brought her there for a reason, one she may not survive.
Gardell and Green will be joined by Weaving, as well as Elizabeth Hawthorne (“30 Days of Night”) and Brit O’Rourke (“One Lane Bridge”).
“Hold Still” is produced by Peter Skinner and Kaitlyn McMurtry, alongside Doyle and Gardell. Casting was led by Danny Long Casting, with additional ensemble roles filled by Bree Peters, Wesley Dowdell, Claire Waldron, Monish Anand, and David Ciurlionis.
Doyle is making her debut as a writer director with “Hold Still.” It comes following her 2022 drama web series “SIRENS,” which garnered numerous awards at international festivals, including Best Direction and Best Student Series at the London International Web and Shorts Film Festival, before being acquired for ABC iView.
The film is the second production from Australian indie collective Seymour Pictures, co-founded by Skinner, Doyle, and Gardell.
Production has begun in Glenorchy and Queenstown, with filming scheduled to wrap in October, followed by post-production in Sydney.
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Speaking on set, Doyle said it’s a dream come true to bring “Hold Still” to life with “this incredible cast and crew amongst the most beautiful, wild and awe-inspiring New Zealand landscapes.”
She said: “I’ve been so fortunate that Glenorchy and its atmosphere-drenched surroundings have served as inspiration for this story from the very beginning, so to be here now surrounded by such a high calibre of talent, and all the friends and supporters we’ve made along the way, is truly an honour.”