New Theatrical Trailer & Poster Released for THE SERPENT’S SKIN
The Sixth Feature from Prolific 21-Year-Old Indie Filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay, a Supernatural Queer Romance Thriller for Lovers of Buffy, Charmed, and the Early Films of Gregg Araki
“Alice Maio Mackay [is] a ferocious explorer of genre with incisive taste that’s unique to her lived experience”
IndieWire
“A masterpiece of queer horror”
Screen Rant
Opening in:
New York March 27 | Los Angeles April 3
** With filmmaker and special guests in attendance **
More dates below & to be announced
“A kind of Scanners for the dolls… Amid all the sapphic goth girl delights of The Serpent’s Skin, there’s a clarion call for community and its importance for queer people, messy and imperfect as it may be.”
RogerEbert
“[A] biting monster-of-the-week worship… Emotionally honest and algebraically stylish, Maio Mackay is a filmmaker the entire industry should watch in the coming years.”
IndieWire
“Proud trans filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay recalls the likes of Reiner Werner Fassbinder with her fiercely DIY approach, pumping out subversive horror at a cracking rate.”
Screenhub
“Alice Maio Mackay established herself as a voice to watch in indie genre filmmaking, but with The Serpent’s Skin, she edges even closer to one-day vulgar auteur status.”
Fandomwire
“The power of queerness and witchy vibes is heavy in this gem of a film.”
ButWhyTho?
“No one gets the vibe of Right Now like Mackay.”
Nashville Scene
Synopsis: Twentysomething Anna (Alexandra McVicker) leaves her small, transphobic hometown to start a new life in the city with her sister when she quickly finds herself face-to-face with Gen (Avalon Fast), a confident young woman she’d first seen in visions. Gen, Anna learns, has supernatural powers—powers that the two of them share. Their bond of magic and romance is threatened when Gen inadvertently unleashes a demon in Danny (Jordan Dulieu), Anna’s one-time fling and neighbor, and the mysterious evil begins targeting—and feeding on—everyone close to them.
Dark Star Pictures has released the new theatrical trailer for Alice Maio Mackay’s The Serpent’s Skin ahead of its upcoming North American theatrical release, which kicks off on March 27 in New York City and on April 3 in Los Angeles.
At only 21-years-old, the trans Australian filmmaker has announced herself as a talent to watch, and her latest film had a celebrated world premiere at San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ film festival Frameline and enjoyed a buzzy run with stops at Beyond Fest, Fantasia Film Festival, London’s Frightfest, NewFest, and more.
The Serpent’s Skin is Maio Mackay’s most ambitious film to date, combining her distinct filmmaking voice—known for channeling genre tropes through a trans lens, her innovative approach to aesthetics, and a unique wit—with a larger scope that leans into a darker storyline and a loving influence of 90s cult television like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed.
After writing and directing a string of low-budget horror shorts in her teens, Maio Mackay—who begins every feature with the on-screen evocation of “A Transgender Film”—erupted onto the scene with her 2021 vampire horror-comedy So Vam, starring BenDeLaCreme and Etcetera Etcetera from Drag Race, which was released as a Shudder Original when she was only sixteen years old. Following her breakout, she helmed Bad Girl Boogey (2022), featuring a cameo from horror icon Bill Mosley; the explosive underground horror T Blockers (2023), which earned her the Emerging Talent Award from Outfest L.A.; musical horror-comedy Satranic Panic (2023); and queer holiday horror Carnage for Christmas (2024), with I Saw the TV Glow’s Jane Schoenbrun executive producing her forthcoming feature Our Effed Up World.
Co-written with her constant collaborator Benjamin Pahl Robinson, the film stars Australian actor Jordan Dulieu (Everything in Between) alongside rising American actor and performance artist Alexandra McVicker (HBO’s Vice Principals, Jack Haven’s October Crow, Castration Movie) and award-winning Canadian filmmaker and actor Avalon Fast (Castration Movie), with McVicker and Fast bringing their characters—doomed lovers who unwittingly unleash a demon through their deepest insecurities—and their romance to life with a palpably intense on-screen chemistry.
Mackay has quickly cemented her position in the exciting new wave of queer filmmaking and The Serpent’s Skin brings many of the trans luminaries in the scene together, with Castration Movie auteur Louise Weard as Executive Producer, The People’s Joker breakout Vera Drew as Editor (after first teaming up on Carnage for Christmas), and So Pretty’s Jessica Dunn Rovinelli as Colorist.
The film will open in New York at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn on March 27 and in Los Angeles at the Alamo Drafthouse DTLA on April 3—as part of a special Fantastic Fest Presents showcase—with Mackay and special guests in attendance for opening nights.
Additional screenings with director Q&As include the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on April 2 and Vidiots in Los Angeles on 4/4, with further cities and dates to be announced.
