Synopsis: In 14th century Wales, a teenager called Alice (Rebekah Acock) is one of the last survivors of a plague that has ravaged the remote village where she lives. When her mother is found to be infected, Alice is powerless to prevent The Cleanser, an ominous masked figure, from brutally killing her Mother with the support of the other villagers. Now that she is alone, the town preacher Tom (Rhys Meredith) seizes the opportunity to make his advances on Alice, but she rejects him and humiliates him in front of the village. In bitterness, he accuses her of being a witch and rallies support from the villagers who are quick to believe she may have caused the plague. She is subjected to five torturous trials, but upon the night of her execution she manages to escape and flees into the forest. There she discovers the secluded hut of a mysterious healer (Simon Nehan), with his own dark secrets and demons to face. Nursing Alice back to health, they form a fragile friendship and he teaches her the skills she’ll need to exact revenge upon those that persecuted her…
When funding fell through in the 11th hour for a much larger project, I was given two few weeks to come up with a script that could be made with a fraction of the budget and using as much of the preexisting sets as possible. I’ve never written a script so quickly and with such practical restrictions before, but it was actually an incredibly rewarding experience. I’d recently watched ‘The VVitch’ and was excited to blend something of that ilk with an idea I’d had previously about the use of primitive chemical weaponry and it appearing to be magic. Shot in three weeks in the welsh countryside, I was a producer on the film and also worked on the edit. I’m really proud of the film which sits as a pulp-influenced, Hammer Horror-style thriller with some truly beautiful photography and memorable performances. For more information please visit Tornado Studios website: HERE
