Split Rock (Canada, 2026)
Official synopsis
While conducting survey work in the remote badlands, geologists and lovers Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) uncover a mysterious block of magnetic stone embedded in the earth. As their team investigates, their equipment begins to fail and a violent unseen force emerges. Lauren becomes obsessed with the ancient block, convinced that an eternal consciousness is using her mind to reach the surface. When Ben attempts to stop it, the outcome leaves the duo and their team forever altered.
Review
Bearing the enigmatic qualities of classic Nigel Kneale fare (The Stone Tape, Quatermass and the Pit), Picnic at Hanging Rock, and a dash of The Monolith Monsters, Split Rock is a slow-burn chiller that boasts an ever-increasing atmosphere of dread. Geology students Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) uncover an out-of-place stone fragment that begins to affect their survey team and its equipment and vehicles. Lauren is especially impacted by the mysterious force. Writer/director Ryan Glover (The Strings) crafts a mesmerizing slice of fear fare cinema that combines nature-strikes-back, cosmic, and folk horror elements in unique ways. Backo and Tanner are excellent in their lead roles, and Olivia Luccardi and Graham Verchere add solid support as the other members of the ill-fated research group. Cinematographer Nikolay Michaylov captures the beautiful yet foreboding landscape and the terrors it holds wonderfully, and Composers Terry Benn and Michelle Osis, along with the sizable sound department, provide appropriately eerie aural support. Let Split Rock wash its hypnotic influence over you and you will be in for a unique scare-fare experience.
Split Rock celebrated its world premiere at Sitges Film Festival and will debut on Shudder on December 25, 2026.
Found Alive (U.S., 2026)
Official synopsis
Ten years after escaping a sadistic captor, Reeve LeClaire (Chloë Grace-Moretz) agrees to mentor a newly rescued teenager. When the girl’s story points to other missing victims, Reeve follows the clues others have dismissed and risks becoming a target herself as she tries to find them.
Review
Director Carlota Pereda follows up Piggy with cat-and-mouse thriller Found Alive, in which former abused kidnapping victim Reeve LeClaire (Chloë Grace-Moretz) is asked by her psychiatrist Dr. Ezra Lerner (Rupert Friend) to help him with young Tilly Cavanaugh (Ava Jarque), a young kidnap victim who was recently found alive. Both Reeve and Tilly had been physically and sexually abused by their captors, and Reeve learns that Tilly’s arrested kidnapper was not acting alone and that other missing girls are involved. With police and the prosecutor skeptical about Reeve’s theory, she takes matters into her own hands. Found Alive doesn’t offer many surprises in the cat-and-mouse department, but Grace-Moretz’s committed lead performance elevates the proceedings. She plays the survivor bent on solving a mystery that law enforcement seems apathetic about in an excellent performance, conveying the various emotions her character goes through superbly. Though seasoned thriller devotees will know where Found Alive is headed from pretty much the get-go, and the main villain is revealed early on, Pereda serves up a slick, good-looking ride that hints at the terrifying circumstances such victims go through without being exploitative.
Split Rock and Found Alive screened as part of Sitges Film Festival (Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya), which runs October 8–18, 2026 in Sitges, Spain.
