American Refugee

Last updated

American Refugee
Directed by Ali LeRoi
Written by
  • Allison Buckmelter
  • Nicolas Buckmelter
Produced by
  • Paige Pemberton
  • Paul Uddo
Starring
CinematographyFederico Verardi
Edited byTim Mirkovich
Music by Dara Taylor
Production
companies
Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date
  • December 10, 2021 (2021-12-10)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

American Refugee is a 2021 American horror thriller film directed by Ali LeRoi and written by Allison Buckmelter and Nicolas Buckmelter. It stars Erika Alexander, Derek Luke and Sam Trammell. Jason Blum serves as an executive producer through his Blumhouse Television banner.

Contents

The film was released digitally on December 10, 2021 by Paramount Home Entertainment and Epix [1] and on March 10, 2022 by Paramount+.

Plot

The Taylors, Helen, an MD, Greg, an academic, recently born Mia, teen daughter Zoe and pre-teen adopted son Kai, have just moved to a spacious home in a rural area, miles from any city.

This idyllic situation is soon up-ended. The economy collapses, there are food shortages, schools close, there is looting and chaos. The country comes under martial law.

While shopping at the empty-shelved local market, Helen helps a scared young pregnant woman to pick some medical supplies. Later, an armed boy shows up asking for Helen. The boy, Matty, his father, Winter, and the market woman, Amber, live next door. There are problems with the baby and they need Helen's help.

Matty takes Helen and Greg to an underground fortified bunker. There, cranky Winter testily lets Helen examine Amber.

Even though Winter is paranoid, after their home is looted, the Taylors have to seek shelter with him. His bunker is their only option.

In this confined environment, arguing between Winter and the Taylors soon starts. Prepper Winter wonders how pacifist Greg could ever protect his own. The kids are caught in the middle of these tussles.

Eventually, Amber's baby is born, but there is no baby food in the bunker. Amber struggles to breastfeed so that job is now placed upon Helen, making it clear that she is becoming Amber’s replacement.

Winter finds a gun that Greg had hidden after attacking and killing an armed intruder. Greg is confronted by Winter leading to a fight. Winter ultimately banishes Greg and also from the bunker for not contributing.

The next day, Greg and Kai return and smoke out the bunker. Winter exits the bunker and locks his family and the Taylor’s inside as the bunker fills with smoke.

From the start, Helen knows the rules of Winter's realm, and that she has to keep her family on board, since much worse awaits outside. But maybe the danger inside is greater than outside.

Cast

Production

In April 2021, it was announced that Ali LeRoi would direct the television horror film American Refugee, written by Allison and Nicolas Buckmelter. The film is part of a partnership between cable network Epix and Blumhouse Television, which will produce eight films for the network. Blumhouse founder Jason Blum serves as an executive producer. [2] In May 2021, Erika Alexander, Derek Luke, Sam Trammell, Peyton Jackson, Zamani Wilder, Jessi Case and Vince Mattis joined the cast of the film. [3]

Principal photography began in April 2021. [4]

Release

The film was released on December 10, 2021 by Epix. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erika Alexander</span> American actress

Erika Rose Alexander is an American actress, writer, producer, entrepreneur and activist best known for her roles as Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1990–1992), and Maxine Shaw on the FOX sitcom Living Single (1993–1998). She has won numerous awards for her work on Living Single, including two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. Her film credits include The Long Walk Home (1990), 30 Years to Life (2001), Déjà Vu (2006) and Get Out (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Kwanten</span> Australian actor and comedian (born 1976)

Ryan Christian Kwanten is an Australian actor and producer. He played Vinnie Patterson from 1997 to 2002 in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. After his stint ended, he joined the American teen drama series Summerland, portraying Jay Robertson. From 2008 to 2014, he played Jason Stackhouse in True Blood. From 2018 to 2019 he produced and starred in the crime drama series The Oath as Steve Hammond. In 2021 he starred in season one of the horror drama anthology series Them as George Bell. In 2022, he portrayed Thomas Weylin in Kindred, a series adaptation based on Octavia E. Butler's celebrated 1979 novel of the same name.

The 2nd Golden Satellite Awards, given on February 22, 1998, honored the best in film and television of 1997.

The following is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared in at least one game for the Tampa Bay Rays franchise, formerly known as the Devil Rays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amber Heard</span> American actress (born 1986)

Amber Laura Heard is an American actress, humanitarian and social activist. She had her first leading role in the horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), and went on to star in films such as The Ward (2010), Drive Angry (2011), and London Fields (2018). She has also had supporting roles in films including Pineapple Express (2008), Never Back Down (2008), The Joneses (2009), The Rum Diary (2011), Paranoia (2013), Machete Kills (2013), Magic Mike XXL (2015), and The Danish Girl (2015). Heard is part of the DC Extended Universe franchise, playing Mera in Justice League (2017), Aquaman (2018), and the forthcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). She has also acted in television series such as Hidden Palms (2007) and The Stand (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glyph Comics Awards</span>

The Glyph Comics Awards are annual awards created specifically for comic creators who are people of color to inspire young writers from diverse backgrounds to participate in the comic industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peyton List (actress, born 1998)</span> American actress and model

Peyton Roi List is an American actress and model. List began her career as a child model, modeling for tween magazines and companies, before transitioning to child actress. She made her acting debut with the film 27 Dresses (2008), and soon became recognized for playing Holly Hills in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series (2011–2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benson Taylor</span> Composer and music producer from the United Kingdom

Benson Taylor, is an English composer, music producer, and humanitarian

The Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting is a fellowship program founded in 1986 to aid screenwriters. It is administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Big Mouth is an American adult animated coming-of-age sitcom created by Andrew Goldberg, Nick Kroll, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett for Netflix. The series centers on teens based on Kroll and Goldberg's upbringing in suburban New York, with Kroll voicing his fictional younger self. Big Mouth explores puberty while embracing an openness about the human body and sex.

<i>Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase</i> (2019 film) 2019 American teen mystery comedy film

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase is a 2019 American teen mystery comedy film directed by Katt Shea with a screenplay by Nina Fiore and John Herrera, based on the book of the same name by Carolyn Keene which was earlier adapted for a 1939 film. The film, produced by A Very Good Production and Red 56 and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, stars Sophia Lillis in the role of Nancy Drew, as she investigates a haunted house. It also stars Zoe Renee, Mackenzie Graham, Laura Slade Wiggins, Sam Trammell, and Linda Lavin in supporting roles.

<i>Pennyworth</i> (TV series) American crime drama television series

Pennyworth, marketed as Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler for its third season, is an American television series that premiered on July 28, 2019, on Epix, based on DC Comics' Batman character of the same name. The series was developed for television and is executive produced by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, and stars Jack Bannon as Alfred Pennyworth, a younger version of the iteration of the character previously portrayed by Sean Pertwee in Heller's and Cannon's Fox series Gotham (2014–2019), with the series serving as a prequel to both Gotham, and V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare. Ben Aldridge, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett, Ryan Fletcher, Dorothy Atkinson, Emma Paetz, Paloma Faith, Polly Walker, James Purefoy, and Jason Flemyng also star.

<i>I See You</i> (2019 film) Film directed by Adam Randall

I See You is a 2019 American horror thriller film directed by Adam Randall from a screenplay by Devon Graye. It stars Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, and Judah Lewis.

<i>The Hunt</i> (2020 film) 2020 film directed by Craig Zobel

The Hunt is a 2020 American horror thriller film directed by Craig Zobel and written by Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof. The film stars Betty Gilpin, Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz, and Emma Roberts. Jason Blum was a producer under his Blumhouse Productions banner, along with Lindelof. Zobel and Lindelof have said that the film is intended as a satire on the profound political divide between the American left and right. It is about a group of elites who kidnap working class people to hunt them.

<i>The Society</i> (TV series) 2019 American mystery teen drama web television series

The Society is an American mystery teen drama television series created by Christopher Keyser, that was released via streaming on Netflix on May 10, 2019. The series stars Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, Sean Berdy, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jacques Colimon, Olivia DeJonge, Alex Fitzalan, Kristine Froseth, Jose Julian, Alexander MacNicoll, Toby Wallace and Rachel Keller. Although the series was initially renewed for a second season, it was ultimately canceled after one season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

<i>War of the Worlds</i> (2019 TV series) Science fiction television series

War of the Worlds is a television series produced by Fox Networks Group and StudioCanal–backed Urban Myth Films. The series is created and written by Howard Overman and directed by Gilles Coulier and Richard Clark. The series is an adaptation of The War of the Worlds, an 1898 novel by H. G. Wells about Earth coming to terms in the wake of a sudden Martian invasion. It is the third television adaptation of the novel. It stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Gabriel Byrne, along with an ensemble supporting cast, including a number of co-stars who change over time.

<i>The Black Phone</i> 2021 film by Scott Derrickson

The Black Phone is a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who both produced with Jason Blum. It is an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same name by Joe Hill. The film stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, and Ethan Hawke. In the film, an abducted teenager (Thames) uses a mysterious telephone to communicate with the previous victims of his deranged captor (Hawke).

References

  1. You Are Being Watched By the Devil: Blumhouse and EPIX Head to ‘A House on the Bayou’ This November [Trailer]
  2. White, Peter (April 14, 2021). "Ali LeRoi To Direct 'American Refugee', Second Blumhouse TV Movie For Epix". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  3. White, Peter (May 6, 2021). "Erika Alexander, Derek Luke & Sam Trammell To Star In Blumhouse's TV Movie 'American Refugee' For Epix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  4. "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - American Refugee". Variety Insight . Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  5. You Are Being Watched By the Devil: Blumhouse and EPIX Head to ‘A House on the Bayou’ This November [Trailer]