Markus Blunder’s “Autumn Blood” Spills onto Paladin

It has yet to premiere at a major film festival, but Markus Blunder’s Autumn Blood starring up-and-comer actress Sophie Lowe (Two Mothers) and vet Peter Stormare (Fargo) will have drawn some early support from Mark Urman’s Paladin as Variety reports that the indie label picked up the alp set thriller over the weekend at the EFM. A theatrical release will occur later in the year.

Gist: High in the mountains, a widowed mother dies, leaving her two children alone and orphaned (Sophie Lowe & Maximilian Harnisch). Fearing being split up they keep their mother’s death a secret. They survive together until the mayor’s son and his friends brutally destroy their innocence when they assault and rape the girl. A social worker from a distant city arrives to investigate, but ultimately it is the siblings who must come of age to protect each other and survive.

Worth Noting: Prior to working almost two decades as a commercials and video director, Blunder got his start in the mid 80’s as an assistant camera — most notably The Jewel of the Nile.

Do We Care?: Very familiar with the premise (a cousin of films such as Somos lo que hay) and while obviously unfamiliar with the helmer, but not the cinematographer. We imagine that Reed Morano (Sundance ’13 items such as Kill Your Darlings, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete) assures a lush aesthetic in a natural surroundings type of backdrop.