Waking Karma is an upcoming psychological thriller starring Michael Madsen of Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill fame. The film is about a teenage girl named Karma (Hannah Christine Shelter) who, alongside her mother Sunny (Kimberly Alexander), has spent years on the run from her cult leader father, Paul (Madsen). In the trailer for the film, courtesy of Bloody Disgusting, which you can watch below, Karma is shown receiving a note saying that says that Paul is “coming for her.” Writer and co-director Liz Fania Werner discussed the inspiration for Waking Karma.

Sunny and Karma wind up in a place that they are reassured is “safe” and “impenetrable.” However, Paul does end up finding them. There probably wouldn’t be much of a movie if he didn’t. From there, he puts Karma through a series of trials that will allow him to “crawl inside [her] head and make [her] just as cruel as he is.”

“I was inspired to write Waking Karma after a family member joined a religious sect whose practice centers around regressive views on gender roles and sexuality. When we read that there are around 3,000 cults in the United States with a membership estimated at 300,000 to three million, we were both immediately hooked into using this film as a vehicle to explore our fears of losing our autonomy as human beings, whether to a larger religious institution or to those who supposedly love us the most."

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One of the trials in the trailer is for Karma to choose who will die between two people. If she doesn’t make a choice, then Paul will kill both of them. Another is shown to involve a creepy gas mask that’s been made to look like the head of an insect, which repeatedly reappears in the promotional images. Co-director Carlos Montaner further discussed the influence of the film.

“We were especially curious about the ways in which women internalize misogyny and pass it down to their daughters, often through religious traditions involving marriage, ‘purity’ and other forms of physical and mental control over their bodies.

What Else to Know About the Film

     XYZ Films

According to Bloody Disgusting, both Waking Karma’s directors hope that people will see their movie as a “love letter” to a person’s right to choose their destiny. Even after having other people tell them what their fate is for them.

Other cast members in the film include Bradley Fisher and Christine Sloane. The producers of Waking Karma were Edgar Romero and Aldo Jovan Diaz for 3ROUNDBURST and John Ferraro of Valleywood Entertainment. The company that will be handling the release of Waking Karma will be XYZ Films.

The film is set for release on North American VOD starting on Jan. 26.

“Waking Karma has haunted the thoughts of everyone at XYZ Films ever since the project first crossed our radar. This is one of the most unsettling cult-themed horror stories we’ve seen in years, and we can’t wait for it to start finding its following this January,” said Alex Williams, Manager of Acquisitions and Development at XYZ Films.