‘Kill Your Lover’ Turns Monstrous for Digital Sales, VOD June 7

Dark Sky Films Proudly Announces The Release Of

A Chilling Horror Film About The Ultimate Toxic Relationship

Kill Your Lover

Written and Directed by Alix Austin & Keir Siewert

In Theaters and on Digital/VOD Platforms on June 7th

Dark Sky Films is proud to announce KILL YOUR LOVER, a horror film from writer-director-producers Alix Austin and Keir Siewert, featuring breakout performances by Paige Gilmour and Shane Quigley Murphy.

The study of the dark side of relationships, combining frank sexuality with intense body horror, is the feature-filmmaking debut of Austin and Siewert, following award-winning short films such as Sucker, Portrait, and Retch. Dakota (Paige Gilmour, also making her feature debut) has had enough of her toxic relationship with Axel (Shane Quigley Murphy, Vikings: Valhalla, Foundation), and tries to end it. But Axel can’t let Dakota go, and the stress of her attempted breakup causes his body to sprout grotesque black veins. He starts to become a literal monster, with a touch that burns flesh, and their once passionate relationship quickly descends into a horror show. The cast also includes May Kelly (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey), Chloe Wigmore (Breaking the Band), and Joshua Whincup.

Siewert also edited KILL YOUR LOVER, and Thibault Chavanis provided themusical score. The grisly makeup effects were created by Rebecca Wheeler (Boiling Point, The Siege). The movie was selected to have its world premiere as the Opening Night feature at the 2023 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and will also play at FilmQuest 2023, where Austin and Murphy are nominated for Best Actress and Best Actor respectively and the movie is up for Best Visual Effects.

Official Film Synopsis:

Dakota and Axel’s relationship is a toxic mess. She knows it, everybody does… except Axel.

The only thing is, until Dakota tries to break up with Axel, she doesn’t know how truly toxic it will become. The mere idea of splitting up causes Axel to become intensely ill, sprouting grotesque black veins and excreting a strange sticky liquid. His touch burns flesh and his need to hang onto Dakota becomes irrationally powerful.

Nobody is going to take her away from him, not even the paramedics that Dakota calls to deal with Axel’s rapidly worsening condition.

The two grapple with what remains of their once passionate relationship – and how what was built on sexual passion and punk rock could end with blood spilt, lives lost and at least one heart broken, literally.

Kill Your Lover

Written and Directed by: Alix Austin & Keir Siewert

Produced by: Alix Austin, Keir Siewert, Thibault Chavanis

Cast: Paige Gilmour, Shane Quigley Murphy, May Kelly, Chloe Wigmore, Joshua Whincup

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Independent

Run Time: 77 Minutes

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING

“Kill Your Lover is a well-made, claustrophobic horror film if you can stomach everything – and things get particularly horrific towards the final act.”

– STARBURST MAGAZINE

“An intricate and intimate film, Kill You Lover perfectly explores a toxic relationship that demonstrates how there is often blame and hurt on all sides. Engaging and layered, with plenty of gore to boot.”

– THN

“Alix Austin and Keir Siewert’s apartment-set anti-romance brings body horror to the breakup of a toxic relationship”

– PROJECTED FIGURES

“Filmmakers Alix Austin and Keir Siewert give us a unique body horror breakup movie that never shies away from messy, intimate, or gross parts of this doomed relationship. It’s an intriguing but brutal look at toxic relationships and how they burn us.”

– NIGHTMARE ON FIERCE STREET PODCAST

“Kill Your Lover is a tense relationship drama oozing from every orifice with gnarly body horror”

– THE BLOGGING BANSHEE