IN VITRO Trailer (2024) Talia Zucker, Thriller Movie

IN VITRO Trailer (2024) Talia Zucker, Thriller Movie

IN VITRO Trailer (2024) Talia Zucker, Will Howarth, Thriller, Sci-Fi Movie
© 2024 - MAdman FIlms
"What do you think would happen if people found out about it?" Madman Films in Australia has revealed a first look official trailer for an indie sci-fi thriller titled In Vitro, made by the two filmmakers Will Howarth & Tom McKeith. On a struggling cattle farm set some years in the future, a woman discovers the unsettling consequences of her husband's animal breeding technology. This is a sneaky lo-fi sci-fi film. It's premiering at the 2024 Melbourne Film Festival (MIFF) after initially debuting at the Sydney Film Festival. "Unnatural selection." One night, everything changes when a storm knocks out the power and they soon discover that something unknown has has been released onto the farm. But as Layla discovers more about the mysterious presence and Jack’s behaviour becomes increasingly controlling, Layla finally uncovers a secret that brings her face to face with the reality of her relationship with Jack and life on the ranch. Starring Talia Zucker and Ashley Zukerman, with Will Howarth. It almost makes me wonder if this is Australia's Lamb, but who knows? The trailer doesn't reveal much yet. But this definitely does look like one to watch out for soon.

Here's the festival promo trailer for Will Howarth & Tom McKeith's film In Vitro, direct from YouTube:

In Vitro Poster

Layla and her husband Jack live on a remote cattle farm hundreds of miles from any town. The ongoing climate crisis has had a devastating impact on the agricultural industry and Jack has been working on an alternative process for breeding cattle. However, it’s been a lonely existence on the farm, and their once loving relationship is not what it used to be. While Jack now spends his days tending to the livestock and experimenting with new biotechnology, Layla pines to be with her son. One night it all changes when a blackout occurs across the property and Jack is attacked. When Layla inspects his wounds, Jack assures her that everything is fine and that it was just an accident with the cattle. But something doesn’t add up to Layla and she cannot shake her worry. When Layla starts to search the property and investigate, Jack’s behaviour grows increasingly controlling until Layla discovers a disturbing presence hidden on the farm.

In Vitro is co-directed by indie filmmakers Will Howarth (an actor making his feature directorial debut) & Tom McKeith (director of the film Beast and other short films previously) making their first feature film together. The screenplay is written by Will Howarth, Tom McKeith, and Talia Zucker. It's produced by Bec Janek, Lisa Shaunessy, Rachael Fung, and Will Howarth. Featuring music composed by Helena Czajka. This initially premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, and is also screening at the 2024 Melbourne Film Festival in Australia soon. No other release dates are set - stay tuned for more updates. Look any good? Who's curious?
Will Howarth and Tom McKeith’s sci-fi mystery thriller In Vitro stars Ashley Zukerman and Talia Zucker as a couple who experiment with biotechnology and develop new farming methods on a cattle farm in the not-so-distant future. However, a series of unsettling occurrences soon leads them to discover a disturbing presence on the farm that threatens their lives.

Zucker wrote the script with Howarth and Tom McKeith, with Fictious producing.

In Vitro will screen at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August, after which it will be released in cinemas via Madman.
Ashley Zukerman (Succession) stars in a gripping Australian sci-fi mystery thriller set on a remote cattle farm in the near future.
With cattle production devastated by ecological disasters, Jack (Zukerman) and his wife Layla (Talia Zucker) are conducting biotechnology experiments at their isolated property. While Layla longs for the return of their son from boarding school, Jack carries out research he hopes will save his family from financial ruin. This meticulously written and brilliantly performed feature from Aussie directors Tom McKeith and Will Howarth (Beast, SFF 2016) takes unpredictable turns as gloomy skies gather and the couple’s relationship begins to strain. Strikingly filmed on the eerily dry Monaro Plains of NSW, In Vitro is claustrophobic, suspenseful and scarily believable.

Limited seats are available for patrons requiring access for wheelchairs, low vision and hearing loop. Please contact our ticketing team directly on 1300 733 733 or tickets@sff.org.au to complete your booking.

Flexipasses cannot be redeemed for Back By Popular Demand sessions
Talia Zucker co-writes and stars alongside Ashley Zukerman (no relation) in this big concept futuristic thriller about a couple living on an isolated property whose existence is shattered with the arrival of an unexpected guest.

Will Howarth and Tom McKeith direct and co-write, with Howarth (Zucker’s IRL husband and baby daddy) also playing a supporting acting role. This one premiered at Sydney Film Festival to a warm reception, but its obtuse narrative and domestic abuse subtext may be tough sell for broader audiences.
In In Vitro, agriculture has collapsed at some undisclosed point in Australia’s near future, perhaps nudging towards the first Mad Max – when society is teetering but has not yet plummeted into the ‘let’s have hoon fights in the desert while inexplicably wearing leather’ abyss.

Ashley Zuckerman, who depicted Succession’s Shiv-keen political aide, Nate, plays waxed jacket-wearing farmer Jack. In this challenging reality, he has turned, Blade Runner-style, to real-world tech with a slight speculative spin in order to artificially create new life.

Cloning cows in industrial vats on the remote farm he shares with partner Layla (Lake Mungo star Talia Zucker, who’s also one of the writers), he’s concealing something else bubbling away in an abandoned corner of these overgrown tin sheds in which ‘farming’ takes place on a vast scale. There’s a clinical distance between Jack and Layla, too, as they go through the motions of a couple haunted by financial worries and the emotional scars of family tragedy hinted at in gauzy flashbacks.

The beast that lurks
In Vitro is written and directed by Tom McKeith (Beast) and Will Howarth, the latter of which also appears in the film as farmhand ring-in Brady, who is not pleased by the long drive to get to their property. Howarth co-starred with Zucker in the twisted immigration accommodation horror movie Motel Acacia and brings an everyman-style befuddlement to whatever’s happening here. However, it’s gradually teased out that he knows way more than he’s letting on.

All the while, classic horror movie chills are wrangled from strange noises heard in the night, with Layla grabbing her gun and searching the property after dark while a mysteriously injured Jack rests in bed. Requisite dog-in-peril bait and switches ratchet up tenterhooks. What was in that unknown vat, and where is it now?

Australia has a proud tradition of ecologically motivated action thriller and horror movies, and In Vitro adroitly splices the bones of these genres with the creeping menace of a domestic violence drama. Zuckerman, so charismatic if cocky in Succession, plays chilly as a failing businessman in an austere film that unsettles through its suggested imbalance in the central relationship. Things aren’t quite right between Jack and Layla from the off.

Is Layla pulling away purely because she’s nursing deep-seated grief, or is there more to her unwillingness to be touched by the man she shares her home with? She’s hands-on in trying to kickstart the failing machinery producing cows birthed with fatal errors, but there’s an element of coercive control in how Jack closely guards details of the business they both run and is plotting an alternative option without her knowing.

Read: Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line, Sydney Film Festival review

Ring the alarm
Whatever’s going on out there, it’s causing the lights to flicker in their home and regularly sets off nerve-jangling alarm bells, both literally and figuratively.

It all adds up to an unsettling set-up with plenty of promise, but In Vitro’ is a little too top-heavy to maintain the chills from start to startling finish. A massive reveal happens too early in the first act that would have had much greater impact if it had been held back a little, allowing the mystery to wind itself ever tighter along the way.

When the character involved is confronted with what should be a reality-rocking event, they take it too easily in their stride. There are clues seeded throughout the story as to why this may be, but in practice, it doesn’t necessarily work towards overall tension building, and makes for a longer-than-ideal trot to the final stretch’s killer blows.

With echoes of recent, even smaller-scale sci-fi chiller Monolith, this isn’t quite the creature feature you might expect. While In Vitro plays coy with its true nature and is perhaps too hasty in pulling back the curtain, it’s nevertheless a promising new entry into the ever-increasing canon of films ill at ease with how humanity is abusing technology designed to course-correct our self-inflicted problems. But then, we’re damn good at ignoring what’s best for us and the planet.

In Vitro premiered at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival on 6 June. The distributor is Madman Entertainment.
In Vitro is a 2024 Australian science-fiction film. It premiered at the 71st Sydney Film Festival.

Premise
On a remote cattle farm, a husband and wife experiment with biotechnology and developing new farming methods, in the near future.[1]

Cast
Ashley Zukerman as Jack
Talia Zucker as Layla
Will Howarth as Brady
Production
The film is directed by Will Howarth and Tom McKeith. It is written by Will Howarth and Talia Zucker who also star, alongside Ashley Zukerman.[2] Principal photography took place in New South Wales, in Goulburn and Cooma over five weeks, finishing by March 2022. Funding came from Screen Australia and Screen NSW.[3][4]

Release
The film premiered at the 71st Sydney Film Festival.
In Vitro
Directed by Will Howarth
Tom Mckeith
Screenplay by Will Howarth
Tom Mckeith
Talia Zucker
Produced by
Will Howarth
Lisa Shaunessy
Starring
Ashley Zukerman
Talia Zucker
Cinematography Shelley Farthing-Dawe
Production
company
Fictious
Release date
June 2024 (SFF)
Country Australia
Language English
Odin’s Eye Entertainment has boarded “In Vitro,” an elevated sci-fi thriller starring Ashley Zukerman (“Succession” ) and Talia Zucker (“Lake Mungo”).

Pic is co-directed by Tom McKeith and Will Howarth, whose debut feature, “Beast,” was nominated for best first feature at the Toronto Film Festival in 2015. Odin’s Eye will introduce the new film to buyers for the first time during the Cannes Market.

The narrative of “In Vitro” is set on a remote cattle property in the near future, where a woman (Zucker) and her husband (Zukerman) have been experimenting with biotechnology and developing illegal breeding methods. It’s a mostly isolated existence for the couple, but when a series of unsettling occurrences take place, the woman is faced with the disturbing reality of just how far her husband will go for love. McKeith and Howarth co-wrote the script with Zucker.

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“In Vitro” is produced by Arcadia and Fictious. Arcadia is the Australian production and distribution studio behind Kodi Smit-McPhee’s sci-fi starrer “2067” and “Sissy,” a horror comedy acquired by Shudder following its premiere in SXSW’s Midnighters section. Fictious is Howarth’s production and talent management outfit with partner Matilda Comers.

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At project stage, “In Vitro” was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. It has since received major production financing from Screen Australia, with additional support from Screen NSW, Mind the Gap Film Finance, Fictious, Odin’s Eye and Arcadia. The picture is currently in post-production with delivery and festival berths anticipated in early 2023.

Arcadia’s Lisa Shaunessy’s (“Sissy,” “2067”) and Bec Janek (“Sissy”) produce alongside Howarth for Fictious and Rachael Fung (“Little Woods”). Comers, Zukerman, Alexandra Burke, Anna Dadic, Michael Agar, Michael Favelle and Clement Dunn serve as executive producers.

“I’m blown away by the quality of the production. Talia Zucker is hauntingly present as the gaslit wife and Ashley Zukerman exudes traces of [Jack Nicholson’s character in “The Shining”] Jack Torrance in his incredible portrayal of a man who goes too far in the name of love,” said Odin’s Eye founder and CEO Michael Favelle.

Arcadia and Odin’s Eye previously collaborated on Tony D’Aquino’s 2019 slasher “The Furies.” Shaunnesy said : “Arcadia is thrilled to be reteaming with Odin’s Eye on this impressive movie. The creative team behind the film, driven by Talia [Zucker] as the writer and protagonist, are in the midst of creating a really special story. Howarth and McKeith have done nothing but justice to the work of all involved and I’ve no doubt that Ashley’s Jack will remain in people’s memories long after the movie is over.”
With cattle production devastated by ecological disasters, Jack (Ashley Zukerman) and his wife Layla (Talia Zucker) are conducting biotechnology experiments at their isolated property. While Layla longs for the return of their son from boarding school, Jack carries out research he hopes will save his family from financial ruin.

In Vitro is a meticulously written and brilliantly performed feature from Aussie directors Tom McKeith and Will Howarth (Beast, SFF 2016) takes unpredictable turns as gloomy skies gather and the couple’s relationship begins to strain. Strikingly filmed on the eerily dry Monaro Plains of NSW, In Vitro is claustrophobic, suspenseful and scarily believable.

With the film playing at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, Nick L’Barrow spoke to lead actor Ashley Zukerman in the lead up to the festival about finding the uncomfortable aspects of his character, his big breakthrough in the TV series Rush, and the resurgence of Australian genre films.

Ashley Zukerman: You’re the second interview I’ve done today who has a huge DVD library behind them! And I love it!

Nick: I’m such a big advocate for physical media. And it’s funny you mentioned them, because I did want to say that when I was about 12 or 13, Rush first came out, and we used to watch that religiously as a family. And we loved it so much that we bought, and still to this day, have the full series box set at my mum’s house!

Ashley Zukerman: Oh, wow. Thanks, man. That was like my first real thing where I got to learn and study. I had one other pretty great job. But Rush, I feel, is where I actually learned to do things, because that character grew up on the show, and I felt like I did as well.

Nick: That must’ve been such an interesting experience, growing up and into a character over time, which is a unique experience because of how TV is formatted. So, I’m curious to know, with In Vitro, does your process change when approaching a character for a film, as opposed to growing with one in a TV show like Rush?

Ashley Zukerman: I mean, it’s a great question, and something that constantly changes, I think. Now that I’ve been doing it for a while, the only thing I really know is how my process constantly changes.

If there’s one trajectory to it, it’s trying to be less controlled and more, just, looser. Learning how to thing about things and prepare, so that they can be loose. There is something I love about writing, and the writer’s process. I love seeing what they’re trying to do. Things always start there, and that gives me the first clues. I don’t have my own instinct to try and put anything on it too early.

I think in a feature film, it’s more of a closed circuit with where I can kind of go. I can see where they’re [the writers] are trying to go. In TV, what I try to kind of figure out is, what is the mistake the character will always be making? Because that’s what I love about TV, it’s these characters who continually make the same mistake over and over again that’ll never really become fully actualised.

I think that in a way, maybe this might be too broad, but TV may be more about character, and film may be more about story. But that’s broadly thinking.

Nick: It’s interesting that you feel like there is a looser approach, because with a story like In Vitro, there are so many elements that feel so meticulous and deliberate that lead directly to this tense feeling throughout the film. Was that meticulousness and tension there on the page when you first read the script?

Ashley Zukerman: When I first read the script, I don’t know if I loved the film. It was only much later that I actually started to understand what was actually going on for him. Like, I started asking the right questions about the character. But at first, it was just the film itself that I found stunning. It seemed to weave together issues of climate change, domestic control and violence and our response as humans. Our lack of connection with each other, trauma. It seemed to weave all these things into something very vivid, and that was the first thing that struck me.

It was only later that, and I think when you’re talking about the tension between them, I started to go, “What is actually going on for these characters?” And this idea that he can’t handle being left alone. He just wants to keep doing these things better, but it’s all in his own head. He’s not actually trying to connect. I think I started to understand how the relationship could work, and how sad and lonely that would be for Talia’s character.

Nick: Speaking about Talia [Zucker, actor and co-writer], and Tom [McKeith, writer] and Will [Howarth, writer], as the process in finding the characters and how their relationship was going to work, did you all create backstories together to give more substance to those nuanced moments in the film?

Ashley Zukerman: In the original script, there was actually a lot of scenes about flashbacks between what led them to where they are now. And those scenes between Jack and Layla were so helpful. It gave us a source for the control.

He’s [Jack] this vulnerable genius who no one is giving him the respect he knows he deserves. He keeps moving and isolating his family more and more. Then he starts down this rabbit hole, and he starts thinking that what he is doing is for the greater good. There’s a line in the Bible that is like, “To the pure, all things are pure.” And I think that is central in Jack. He thinks that everything he does is for the greater good, so everything he does is okay.

Nick: What sort of mannerisms and physicality did you develop to bring not just those feelings of a vunerable genius to life, but also the aspects of Jack that investigate the coercive control of Layla? Because I feel that these elements of Jack are always there, but the intensity of them is a slow burn reveal throughout the film.

Ashley Zukerman: Interesting. I don’t know how conscious they were. But I think what they probably were originally, and then what they manifested in to, as you described, we’re like all tweaks and thoughts that went through his mind.

“It’s happening again. She’s going to leave me again.” Because he truly doesn’t care about her, these are all feelings in him that are getting triggered slowly. The puppet strings of his own bullshit really pulling at him. He’s in constant conversation with himself, rather than with her. And I think that’s probably what manifested those.

Nick: Jack having those conversations within himself really comes through the eyes, I think. There is this consciously unconscious vibe to it. I also think how Jack talks is a big part of that too. I’m interested to find out how your pick a voice for a character, with things like tone and cadence?

Ashley Zukerman: Yeah, it’s interesting. I had a thought early on, and I talked to Will about it, because ultimately this is a story, at its bones, about domestic violence. It’s about control, and manipulation, and gaslighting. I think we’d be doing a disservice if we portrayed that character as just so ordinary.

In a way, we needed to find what he’s uncomfortable about. I didn’t want him to feel that connected to himself. So, I had this idea of more of a higher voice, like his range is a little more up there in his head. He’s a little hard to access. Something in his voice is not as honest. It’s not as clear as someone just coming straight at you.

Then I’d say the rest of it just comes from the writing, and the clarity of the writing. There are some projects where you read the script and work with a team that doesn’t mind improvising lines. And then you get something like this where it’s like, “No – this is very clearly the film, and these are the characters”.

Nick: As we start wrapping up, I’ve loved seeing how the Aussie genre films, like Talk to Me and In Vitro, are really putting niche Australian filmmakers on the map globally! As an actor, are you noticing this trend too, and what have been some of your Australian made highlights of the last few years?

Ashley Zukerman: I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a new thing, but I am noticing more and more conversations about it. I think maybe Australia is benefiting from the world of streaming and platforms opening up that open up broader content for people.

Like, the talent here is extraordinary. We use very few studios, we build our industry on working fast and hard and with the elements that are available to us. I think that gives Australian film and TV the kind of feel that we’re just very good at it! I think giving filmmakers an opportunity is great, and it’s been a great run.

I thought Late Night with the Devil was so unique and taking some big swings.

Thank you to Ashley for his time, and to Madman Films and NixCo PR for organising the chat. In Vitro is playing at the upcoming Melbourne International Film Festival, and will be released in Australian cinemas soon.
Succession and The Lost Symbol actor Ashley Zukerman leads the sci-fi thriller feature In Vitro, which has just wrapped filming in regional New South Wales, Australia.

In the lead opposite Zukerman is Talia Zucker (Lake Mungo) alongside Will Howarth (Beast).

Set on a remote cattle property in the near future, the film follows Layla (Zucker) and her husband Jack (Zukerman), who have been experimenting with biotechnology and developing new farming methods. It’s a mostly isolated existence for the couple, but when a series of unsettling occurrences take place, they soon discover a disturbing presence on the farm that threatens to upend their lives.

In Vitro marks writer-directors Tom McKeith and Will Howarth’s follow-up to their debut feature Beast, which was nominated for Best First Feature at TIFF 2015. They co-wrote the script with Zucker.

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Producers are Arcadia, the Australian production and distribution company behind Kodi Smit-McPhee sci-fi starrer 2067 and horror comedy Sissy, which is set to play opening night in SXSW’s Midnighters section, and Fictious, Howarth’s production and talent management outfit with partner Matilda Comers.

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Arcadia’s Lisa Shaunessy’s (Sissy, 2067) and Bec Janek (Sissy) produce alongside Will Howarth (Beast) for Fictious and Rachael Fung (Little Woods). Comers, Zukerman, Alexandra Burke, Anna Dadic, Michael Agar and Clement Dunn serve as executive producers.

In Vitro, which was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, has received production funding from Screen Australia, with support from Screen NSW, Mind the Gap, Fictious, and Arcadia.

“Our goal with In Vitro is to create a bold sci-fi with compelling characters that expresses something important about the times we live in,” Howarth and McKeith said in a joint statement. “We’re so excited to be working on this project with such a great team and are thrilled to be supported by Screen Australia, Screen NSW, and the Sundance Institute.”

Arcadia’s Shaunessy added: “In Vitro is a dark love story that sent chills down my spine the first time I read it. Teaming with Will and Matilda at Fictious; and with Tom, Talia and Ashley rounding out the dynamic creative team alongside Arcadia — it’s exciting to be collaborating with such experienced and talented storytellers. Combined with the incredible locations like the majestic Snowy-Monaro and our super talented heads of department, we really look forward to bringing In Vitro to the screen.”

Zukerman’s recent credits include his role as Robert Langdon in the Peacock series Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, the Fear Street trilogy for Netflix and the FX limited series A Teacher with Kate Mara. In addition to his recurring role on Succession, Zukerman’s series credits also include WGNA’s Manhattan and the Australian thriller The Code, which earned him a Logie Award nomination.

Zukerman is repped by Lisa Mann Creative Management, Cohn / Torgan Management, Gersh and Felker Toczek. Zucker and Howarth are repped by Mosaic.