Ahead of its world premiere at LA’s Dances with Films Festival on June 22nd, Punch Drunk Critics is happy to debut an exclusive trailer for Hariharasudhen Nagarajan’s new movie, Tether. The film stars Nick Giedris, Ben Burton, Laura Faye Smith, Joanna Cretella, Sophia Dawson, and Arielle James. The screenplay was penned by Anghus Houvouras.
Here’s a synopsis: When Leonard, a grieving father haunted by his daughter’s death in a school shooting, seeks solace in reconciliation with his wife, he crosses paths with Gerald, the clinically depressed ex-school resource officer who froze during the incident and is blamed for not helping avert the disaster. As their paths collide and their downward spirals converge, what darkness will their encounter unleash?
The topic of school shootings and what to do about them has been weighed heavily over the years, including on the big screen. Still, it seems too many people don’t want to actually confront the issue. It was the Parkland High School shooting that inspired Nagarajan and Houvourasto embark on making Tether a reality.
Nagarajan said in a statement: “The Parkland High School shooting felt like a gut punch. News reports turned the faces of teenagers into ghosts, their laughter and dreams silenced by gunfire. Then came the Pulse Nightclub shooting and the weight of these tragedies pressed even heavier. It was a horrifying cascade of violence, and a sickening sense of numbness began to creep in. Had mass shootings become a grim reality we’d just grown accustomed to? Was this the new normal? What happens to the survivors when the news media moves on to the immediate aftermath of another shooting?”
“That’s what sparked ‘Tether’. My writer, Anghus Houvouras, and I couldn’t accept this new normal. These weren’t just headlines; they were stories of shattered lives. We wanted to explore the aftermath, the ripple effects that spread far beyond the immediate victims. ‘Tether’ isn’t about the acts themselves but the trauma they leave behind. It’s about families grappling with the absence of a loved one, survivors carrying physical and emotional scars, and the communities left wrestling with the unthinkable.”
Tether will have its World Premiere at Dances with Films Festival on June 22nd!
