The Devil's Bargain

2014· 77 min★ 6.2· Drama

It's 1974. Earth is about to be obliterated by a massive asteroid. Adi (Jonnie Hurn) and his young hippy wife Ange (Chloe Farnworth), haunted by memories of the death of their child a few years earlier, journey to the idyllic rural setting where he was conceived, determined to make peace with the world and each other before the planet is destroyed forever. Adi's overly pragmatic view of life and 'what comes afterwards' (or doesn't) begins to grate with the free-spirited Ange. She seduces the reluctant Adi into reliving happier times, and for a moment it seems as if this troubled couple may actually find peace at the end. But the arrival of Luca (Dan Burman), a charismatic and mysterious young photographer, turns what's left of the world upside-down. Despite Adi's aggressive reaction to Luca taking photos of him and his wife naked, Luca manages to persuade the couple to allow him to ride out the end of days with them. It soon becomes clear that Ange wants to enjoy the company of both men and that Luca's arrival on the scene may not have been entirely accidental. But there is more at work here than free love and cuckolding. Luca is clearly a man of power, and as the asteroid careens closer to the earth the tensions rise between the three, and what could have been a peaceful swansong for Adi becomes a litany of revelations, personal and biblical, a psychological nightmare, and a hellish final judgment.

Cast: Jonnie Hurn, Lulu Briggs, George Brown, Dan Burman

Director: Drew Cullingham