‘Halsey’s Next Horror the Psycho-Sexual ‘Replacer’

U.S. pop star and actress Halsey (pictured in MaXXXine) is set to star in Replacer, a “psycho-sexual horror” film that’s making the rounds at the Cannes market, reports Deadline.

The project has some big names attached: Replacer is written by Halsey and actor/director Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap, Backrooms), with Jogia also directing and Lilly Wachowski (The Matrix) executive producing.

“Stranded in Montreal, Proxy (Halsey), a troubled DJ, meets an alluring artist and his group of friends who run an underground radio station. The station’s broadcast becomes warped by a mysterious signal hidden deep beneath the city’s subway system. Proxy must escape before the sound turns her, and her new friends, into something raw, primal, and unrecognizable.”

Hows this for hype?

“Avan and Halsey’s script is a surreal hyper-dive into a twitchy, conspiratorial genre mashing snarl of horror/thriller/comedy, set against the grit and grime of a rarely glimpsed Montreal subculture,” said Wachowski. “This thing is packed! I have the sense that Avan’s eyeballs have gulped down a steady diet of the films I grew up on — David Cronenberg, Alex Cox, Tony Scott, John Carpenter.”

Jogia added: “Replacer is a bright and electric club horror mashed together with a vulnerable romantic story about belonging and community. Come together. Leave as one.”

The project is launching sales at this week’s Cannes market, with CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group representing North American rights and Film Mode Entertainment handling international sales.

The film is produced by Kyle Mann of Independent Edge, Isabelle Deluce of Soft Focus Films, and Damiano Tucci of Getaway Entertainment, in association with Anarchists United.

Executive producers include Lilly Wachowski, Anthony Li, Lawrence Mattis, Sarah Flores, Christopher Renteria, Emily McCann Lesser, and Clay Epstein of Film Mode Entertainment.

Olivier Picard and David Pierrat of Parce Que Films are co-producing.