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Folk Horror ‘Love Is the Monster’ With ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Westworld’ Stars Sets Summer Release [Exclusive]

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Hot off partnering with Collider to bring his genre-focused digital series The Séance back to the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival, Alex Noyer has set the date for his latest directorial effort. We can exclusively share that his folk horror flick Love Is the Monster is set for a North American release on June 23. Cranked Up Films, a division of Good Deed Entertainment, focused on independent, high-concept genre fare, will be rolling the film out to screens in the U.S., while Raven Banner Entertainment handles the release in Canada. It marks just his second feature after debuting in 2021 with the body horror hidden gem Sound of Violence.

Helmed by Noyer, who also co-wrote the script with his Sound of Violence collaborator Hannu Aukia and Blair Bathory, Love Is the Monster takes place in Finland, where struggling couple Ana (Madeline Zima) and Justin (Leonardo Nam) have gone on an exclusive retreat together. The pair is still grappling with infidelity and has made the trip during the country’s midsummer season to seek guidance from a mysterious and charismatic healer who draws upon the mythology of Lempo, an ancient goddess of love and fertility. However, their attempt at repairing their relationship soon spirals into something far more sinister, as the fractures between Ana and Justin are exploited, and pagan rituals force them into a fight for survival. It all culminates in Ana’s horrifying discovery that she was ultimately meant to play a part in resurrecting Lempo.

Zima and Nam bring a bit of star power to the main couple as they attempt to escape whatever the healer has planned for them. The former was a recurring presence on Showtime’s Californication and has previously enjoyed roles in the 2017 Twin Peaks revival, Doom Patrol, and, more recently, the second and now final season of CBS’ Watson. Nam, meanwhile, is best remembered as Livestock Management employee Felix Lutz from HBO’s Westworld, though he’s also appeared on the big screen in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and has worked with Disney on multiple occasions for Descendants: The Rise of Red and Marvel’s Werewolf By Night. In an official statement, Nam expressed how the folklore-infused story intrigued him and, ultimately, appealed to him on a deeper level with its complexity.

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“Making this film was such a pleasure and such a wild ride. What attracted me most was how beautifully it intertwines folklore, love, and the psychological questions human beings across cultures have wrestled with since the beginning of time. It’s visually striking and unsettling, but also deeply human in the way it explores intimacy, desire, and the unknown. I’m incredibly proud to have been part of bringing Alex’s vision to life alongside Madeline Zima and the entire team. On a personal level, it meant a great deal to step into a lead role like this as an Asian man, in a space where we so rarely get to be seen as complex, desirable, romantic, and central to the story. I hope audiences discover a film that is both haunting and emotionally resonant, and fully surrender to the ride.”



















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Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz
Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving?
Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky

Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you’re not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.

🏕️Jason

🔪Michael

💤Freddy

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🎈Pennywise

🪆Chucky

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01

Something feels wrong. You can’t explain it — you just know. What do you do?
First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty.





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Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong?
Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.





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What is your most reliable survival asset?
Every survivor has a quality the villain didn’t account for. What’s yours?





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What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through?
Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it.





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You’re with a group when things start going wrong. What’s your role?
Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn’t.





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What’s the horror movie mistake you’re most likely to make?
Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not.





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What’s your best weapon against something that can’t be stopped by conventional means?
Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it.





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It’s the final scene. You’re the last one standing. How did you make it?
The final survivor always has a reason. What’s yours?





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Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated
Your Best Chance Is Against…

Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.

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Camp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th

Jason Voorhees

Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.

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Haddonfield, Illinois · Halloween

Michael Myers

Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.

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Elm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street

Freddy Krueger

Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.

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Derry, Maine · It

Pennywise

Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.

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  • The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
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Chicago · Child’s Play

Chucky

Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.

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Who Else Is Involved in ‘Love Is the Monster’?

Rounding out the cast for Love Is the Monster are Kimberly Sue-Murray (The Boys), Moe Jeudy-Lamour (Ted Lasso), Kristina Tonteri-Young (Warrior Nun), Milla Puolakanaho (Attack on Helsinki), and Sheila McCarthy (Women Talking). Behind the camera, Laurence Gendron joins Noyer and Aukia as a producer. In the director’s eyes, there’s no better time to send the folk horror to screens. “Releasing Love Is the Monster during Finnish midsummer couldn’t be more fitting, as it’s when our story unfolds,” Noyer added in his own statement. “While a real trip to Finland is far less eventful, our devious goddess Lempo is ready to welcome audiences. We’re thrilled to partner with Cranked Up Films, Good Deed, and Raven Banner to bring this strange and twisted film to our viewers.”

Noyer’s latest originally made its debut as an official selection at last year’s Screamfest Horror Film Festival, which has been one of Hollywood’s premiere platforms for independent horror for years now, elevating projects like Paranormal Activity and The Grudge. Both Cranked Up and Raven were eager to roll out the red carpet for the film, with Marco DiSilvio saying on behalf of the former, “We are thrilled to add this amazing film to the Cranked Up Films family, and can’t wait for audiences to embrace this thrilling folk horror experience.” Raven Banner managing partner Michael Paszt further praised Love Is a Monster as the perfect fit for their catalog, having previously backed the recent Deathstalker remake and the Canadian horror darling Foreigner.

“Raven Banner is excited to bring this original folk horror to Canadian audiences. Alex has delivered a bold genre film that aligns perfectly with our passion for distinctive, filmmaker-driven work”

Love Is a Monster premieres on Digital in North America on June 23. Check out the trailer in the player above.

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