The Wolf Hour

[Sushubh]

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Set in the South Bronx during the summer of ‘77, The Wolf Hour is the story of a once renowned activist writer who, through a series of events, has found herself unable or unwilling to leave her fifth story walkup at the height of one of the darkest points in New York history.
Arsonist landlords are burning down buildings, street gangs have taken over the neighborhood and the Son of Sam serial killer is out murdering women.
We find June on the top floor of a creaking pre-war building. She seems to be starving and living in a state of squalor when someone or something begins tormenting her through her two-way door intercom.
It rings incessantly but when she goes to answer it, no one is there. Seemingly unable to descend the stairs to investigate, her sanity begins to fray. Ghosts from her past and present converge and a portrait of her former life comes into view.
The brutal heat, the manic door buzzer ringing, unrest on the street and rent overdue, June finally comes to the realization that the only way out of her situation is to do what she does best and begin to write again. The task seems impossible at first, but slowly it begins to pour out of her.
She finishes and just as she arranges the only copy to be delivered to her publisher, lightning knocks out the power, plunging the entire city into the darkness of what will soon be notoriously known as the ‘77 Blackout.
Chaos erupts in the streets. Buildings are set ablaze, stores looted and gunshots ring out. June watches as the world she had finally been ready to rejoin becomes a living hell. She must now decide if this is a world she still truly wants to live in.

THE WOLF HOUR is a story about existential, societal dread and alienation; how we get to these places in our minds and why we choose to sustain them. Any of us can fall off the grid. It’s really only our standing in society and the infrastructure of family and friends around us that dictates how far we fall.
I set out to tell a darkly rich, character study wrapped in the shroud of a psychological thriller. Something like Hitchcock or early Polanski on the surface, that morphs into a portrait of social alienation and ultimately, hope for the future.
The riots of the ‘77 blackout are particularly interesting because of how much it reflects the unrest happening in America today. New York City at that time was the visual personification of Western decline and the anger that followed the seemingly unfulfilled promises of the activism that spanned the decade before. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the blackout riots so it feels very topical and important to do this now.
Ultimately, I’m an optimist and know it takes great strength to remain positive in light of dark times. This is the feeling I want my audience to take away.

The Wolf Hour starring #NaomiWatts #JenniferEhle #KelvinHarrisonJr is the psychological thriller of a former novelist who hasn't left her six-story walk up in years, unravels when an unseen tormentor begins harassing her, all while the events of the ‘77 New York Blackout Riots unfold outside her window.

 

[IBF]

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