Vertical Entertainment Acquires North American Rights on VISCOUS Starring Mena Suvari

Vertical Entertainment has acquired the North American rights from XYZ Films for "VISCOUS", a mystery thriller from first time writer/director Braden R. Duemmler. The film stars veteran actress Mena Suvari (American Beauty, American Pie), Trey Tucker (The Space Between Us) and newcomer Ema Horvath who is set to star in the upcoming "The Lord of the Rings" Amazon Studios series. Vertical Entertainment plans to release the film in US theaters and on VOD in December this year. XYZ Films will be handling international sales.

After returning from two months at camp, Liberty, a socially awkward 16-year-old is blindsided when her mother introduces her to her new fiancée, John Smith. At first, his charm, intelligence, and beauty seem too good to be true, after a series of strange occurrences Libby starts to realize that this new member of their family is not exactly who he seems.

From Director Braden Duemmler: "When we are young, our curiosity propels us. Viscous exploits that drive to reconnect us with the anxiety, uncertainty, and fears of adolescence - we indulge the curiosity, until it's too late. This is my first feature film and I'm incredibly excited to work with Vertical and XYZ on its release."

The North American deal was negotiated by Peter Jarowey and Josh Spector from Vertical Entertainment with Paradigm on behalf of the filmmakers.

VISCOUS was written and directed by Braden R. Duemmler; produced by Abel Vang, Stephen Stanley (p.g.a.), and Kristina Esposito; executive produced by Linus Hume; co-produced by Panda Lord, cinematography by Jimmy Jung Lu; production design by Monica Dabrowski; edited by R.J. Daniel Hanna and Marc Sedaka; and composed by Gavin Keese.