The Offering

WARNING: This film contains a sequence of flashing lights which might affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy. THE OFFERING tells the story of Arthur (played by Nick Blood) who grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. He has rejected his past, changed his whole lifestyle and left that world behind. After fifteen years he is returning home to make amends with his father Saul (Allan Corduner) and to introduce his pregnant wife Claire (Emm Wiseman) to him. But Arthur is also harboring a secret. He is in deep financial troubles and he's made a deal to sell his father's property. Art and Claire arrive in the Hasidic world and are warmly welcomed by Saul who is busy running the morgue of the community, located at the basement of his house. Saul takes care of the bodies, following the ancient Jewish rituals, and he has just received another dead body, which, as he will soon find out, has been possessed by a demon. Claire is surprised and relieved by Saul's warm acceptance. She had anticipated a hostile attitude from her father-in-law who previously refused to attend her wedding with Art. Apparently Saul had now changed and understood that pushing his son away was a terrible mistake. The time had come for the father to correct the mistake starting by being kind to the newly-wed couple. This makes Arthur's situation even tougher because he wishes to reconcile with his father as well but at the same time he has to persuade him to sign the sale contract. Art's childhood friend Heimish (Paul Kaye) is also there getting very suspicious of Art's real intentions towards Saul. Just as we begin to like and sympathize with the heroes of this dramatic family plot, the ancient demon Abyzou emerges in the story and step by step it creates a horrific experience for everyone. The evil god is playing with the characters' senses, twisting the reality, making it hard for them to know what's true or not. The dark entity is pushing them to the limits of their reason and by the end of the journey, it will caus some of them to lose more than their minds. An exploration into a fascinating Kabbalistic universe done through the lenses of classic horror conventions, THE OFFERING shows the beautiful way of life of the Hasidic community while at the same time terrifies with the existence of this ancient powerful demon, leaving the audience with many questions about choices, good or evil, right or wrong, life or death. Oliver Park makes his feature directorial debut with a script written by Hank Hoffman, based on a story by Jonathan Yunger and Hoffman. Producers are Hank Hoffman, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger, Jeffrey Greenstein, Yariv Lerner and Sam Schulte. Director of photography is Lorenzo Senatore (The Outpost, Hellboy). Production designer is Philip Murphy (The Alienist, Penny Dreadful). The editors are Michael Duthie and Simon Pearce. THE OFFERING stars Nick Blood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Emm Wiseman (Celeste), Allan Corduner (Defiance), Paul Kaye (The Stranger), Jodie Jacobs (Drop Zone) and Daniel Ben Zenou (Skins)