‘A Banquet’ Trailer: IFC Midnight Serves Up Nightmarish Psychodrama Next Month

One of the standout horror films from last year’s TIFF, A Banquet marks the directorial debut of newcomer Ruth Paxton. The festival circuit has been where some of the genre’s top voices first emerged and based on this trailer, and the strong reviews, IFC Midnight might have a breakout film on their hands.

Starring Resident Evil‘s Sienna Guillory, plus Jessica Alexander, Ruby Stokes, and Lindsay Duncan, A Banquet dials in on the tensions between a mother and her teenage daughters in the wake of a tragedy. Faith, fear, and a most unusual hunger strike are all part of this nightmarish family psychodrama.

Here is the official synopsis: Widowed mother Holly (Sienna Guillory) is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey (Jessica Alexander) experiences a profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith, Betsey refuses to eat but loses no weight. In an agonizing dilemma, torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs.

A Banquet hits select theaters and VOD on February 18th.

 

Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.