Sometimes the road less traveled should remain that way. Up-and-coming genre actress, Georgina Campbell, who began garnering international attention when she played the female lead in last summer’s horror thriller, ‘Barbarian,’ is learning that vital lesson the hard way in her latest horror film, ‘Lovely, Dark, and Deep.’

The anticipated psychological folk horror drama had its World Premiere tonight Sunday, July 23 at 9:40pm ET in the Cheval Noir section of the Fantasia International Film Festival. The movie will also have a second screening this Tuesday, July 25 at 4:15pm ET at Salle J.A. De Sève in Montreal. The feature’s screenings are being presented with director Frank Mosley’s experimental comedy-drama short, ‘Good Condition,’ at both screenings.

‘Lovely, Dark, and Deep’ was penned by Teresa Sutherland, who garnered fame in part by scribing the 2018 cult horror mystery thriller, ‘The Wind.’ She also drew attention as a staff writer on creator-director Mike Flanagan’s acclaimed supernatural horror mini-series, ‘Midnight Mass,’ which premiered on Netflix in 2021. She also made her feature film directorial debut on ‘Lovely, Dark, and Deep.’

In ‘Lovely, Dark, and Deep,’ the enigmatic Lennon (Campbell) is granted a long-awaited position as a park ranger in an isolated outpost. However, as soon as she arrives, the woods tower ominous around her. Her new home for the next 90 days is strangely shrouded in mystery and conspiracy theories pertaining to bizarre disappearances.

Once Lennon settles into this minimalist life, visions quickly start to manifest and blend the past and present. Something even more sinister also begins lurking in the serene, writhing landscape. Steadily, Lennon descends further and further into the horror that lays dormant at the roots of the new landscape she finds herself in. As these mysteries arise and blossom, the lines between reality and dream quickly begin to blur.

Sutherland generously took the time earlier this week to talk about scribing and helming ‘Lovely, Dark, and Deep.’ Among other things, the filmmaker discussed what inspired her to pen the script; how she approached making her feature film directorial on the drama; what the process was like of creating the look of the outpost Lennon stays in and the surrounding woods during her first assignment as a new park ranger; and what it means to her that the movie is having its World Premiere at Fantasia.

For more information on ‘Lovely, Dark, and Deep,’ whose Fantasia screenings were hosted by Sutherland and executive producers Marco Baray, Elan Gale, Matthew Welty and Molly Quinn, visit its page on the festival’s official website.