‘Trespassers’: ‘Midsommar’ Producer Boards Swedish Horror Movie Described as ‘Deliverance’

A new wave of Nordic genre movies is currently taking shape through the inaugural Nordic Genre Lab, with Swedish horror movie Trespassers among the projects selected for development.

Johannes Persson, director of Feed, is attached to helm the backwoods horror thriller, which has been described as a Swedish take on Deliverance. The screenplay comes from Melina Maraki (Summer of 1985).

Trespassers follows four young people from a failed anti-establishment movement who head into the remote wilderness of Northern Sweden in an attempt to reconnect with nature.

Their trip takes a terrifying turn when a river rafting accident leaves them stranded. As they search for a way out, they discover they’re not alone—and they’ve entered territory controlled by an isolated group that has lived apart from society for centuries, developing its own disturbing beliefs.

Molly Nutley and Sofia Kappel are attached to star.

The movie is being produced by Patrik Andersson, producer of Midsommar, alongside Jakob Abrahamsson, co-founder of Mylla Films.

Trespassers is one of several projects selected for the Nordic Genre Lab. The lineup also includes The Evil Eye, an online found-footage horror movie where the protagonist is also the villain, and Whistler, a folk horror story set in the Faroe Islands that follows marine biologists hunted by a farmer and his half-human creatures.

The Nordic Genre Lab finalists cover a wide range of genre projects, including folk horror, dystopian survival thrillers, animated psychological horror, and dark political satire.

The selected filmmakers will pitch their projects to more than 500 industry delegates, while also taking part in workshops and mentorship opportunities.

Producer Todd Brown told Variety that Nordic genre filmmaking continues to attract attention because of its deep pool of talent and ability to combine arthouse sensibilities with accessible genre storytelling.

More details on Trespassers and the other Nordic Genre Lab projects are expected as development continues.