First Look at Gothic Thriller ‘The Oak Room’

Black Fawn Films and Breakthrough Entertainment Inc., the filmmaking team behind such genre hits as I’ll Take Your Dead, Let Her Out, and Antisocial, have released the official trailer and poster for their newest collaboration, The Oak Room, a dark thriller set in a remote and winter-ravaged Canadian town. The film stars actors RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad), Peter Outerbridge (Suicide Squad, V-Wars) and Ari Millen (Orphan Black, I’ll Take Your Dead).

The Oak Room marks another ambitious and exciting departure for Black Fawn Films. The character-driven and dramatic thriller blends the rural isolation of “No Country For Old Men” with the small town, gothic claustrophobia of “Frailty.” Director Cody Calahan teamed up with writer Peter Genoway to adapt Genoway’s stage play The Oak Room into the feature-length film. The original stage production took home first-place honors at the Toronto Fringe Festival in the prestigious “New Play Contest” category while also being selected as a Patron’s Pick (Theatre Passe Muraille’s top box office earner).

Some images, courtesy of Black Fawn Films and Breakthrough Entertainment Inc. 

“The Oak Room became more and more of a personal project for me after each step of development,” explains Calahan. “My son was born right before we went to camera and a lot of the stories in the film revolve around the relationships that exist between fathers and sons. At each stage of the process, I found myself reflecting on what the mystery of this story truly meant to me. I’m excited to see how it will connect with different audiences out there and what people will take away from it.”

“We’re really excited to bring this riveting, northern gothic thriller to market,” states Breakthrough Entertainment’s Vice President of Distribution Craig McGillivray. “The Oak Room features some truly amazing performances from RJ Mitte, Peter Outerbridge, and Nicholas Campbell. This film is the type of story that will have audiences on the edge of their seats and instantly wanting to re-watch it.”

Breakthrough Entertainment Inc. and Black Fawn Films will be bringing The Oak Room to Cannes’ upcoming virtual film market “Marche du Film” where first viewings of the film will be taking place on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.

Synopsis: During a raging snowstorm, a drifter returns home to the blue-collar bar located in the remote Canadian town where he was born. When he offers to settle an old debt with a grizzled bartender by telling him a story, the night’s events quickly spin into a dark tale of mistaken identities, double-crosses and shocking violence.