By Quinn Delaney

The upcoming supernatural horror film, ‘Do You Want to Play?,’ will premiere at FrightFest London 2026. The thriller’s screening will be held on Sunday, August 30 at 3:45pm in London.

Nick Lyon wrote, directed and produced the movie. The drama stars rising actress Quinn Aune. The actress is joined on screen by Max Mushallo, Leo Larson, Atlas Von Poncet and veteran actor Ricco Ross. Lyon wrote and directed the film.

‘Do You Want to Play?’ centers on the launch party for the D3MON app. During the celebration, teenager Emily and her friends play the original D3MON BOARD that inspired the application.

However, the game quickly becomes more than entertainment. As the group uses the physical board, the D3MON app begins communicating with them. What starts as a party game soon becomes a dangerous supernatural invitation.

Aune leads the thriller as Emily, a teenager struggling to maintain her identity during an increasingly terrifying possession. The role required the young actress to balance grounded teen drama, physical horror and emotional turmoil.

Aune is quickly establishing herself as an actress to watch. Alongside her leading role in ‘Do You Want to Play?,’ she recently portrayed the young version of Anya Taylor-Joy’s titular role on Apple TV’s ‘Lucky.’ The up-and-coming actress also recently played the younger iteration of Nicole Kidman’s eponymous role on Amazon’s crime drama, ‘Scarpetta.’

Lyon said finding an actress capable of grounding the supernatural story was essential to ‘Do You Want to Play?’ “Quinn had to do a lot in this movie, but the most important thing was that Emily always felt like a real person,” he noted.

The actress “never played the ‘horror movie’ version of the character. She played a teenager who is scared, angry and slowly realizing that she may not be in control of her own life anymore,” Lyon continued. “That made everything around her much more frightening.”

Mushallo played Owen, while Larson portrayed Tommy, two young men drawn into Emily’s increasingly dangerous situation. Their characters approach the unfolding supernatural crisis from distinctly different perspectives.

Von Poncet also starred in the thriller. Besides appear in the drama, the performer also served as an executive producer.

The cast also includes veteran performer Ross, known for roles in James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ and Netflix’s ‘Beauty in Black.’ He played Gary, a former Jesuit and paranormal broadcaster investigating the teenagers’ terrifying encounter, in ‘Do You Want to Play?’

Gary discovers that the force behind the D3MON phenomenon is considerably older than the technology carrying it. His character connects the movie’s digital mythology with ancient spiritual and supernatural traditions.

Lyon sees ‘Do You Want to Play?’ as a contemporary possession story rather than an outright warning about smartphones. Instead, the technology becomes another doorway through which humanity encounters the unknown.

“Every generation finds a new way to talk to the unknown,” Lyon said. “The phone is just the newest doorway. The technology isn’t the monster – it’s the delivery system.”

The filmmaker has directed more than 40 movies in such genres as horror, action, science fiction and thriller. He used that experience to create an intimate, character-driven supernatural story for ‘Do You Want to Play?.’

The drama explores first love, friendship, family and identity alongside its supernatural mythology. Lyon emphasizes that the horror depends on audiences caring about Emily, Tommy and Owen before their relationships begin falling apart.

“I’m genuinely excited that the first festival audience to see the film will be at FrightFest,” Lyon stated. “That crowd knows horror inside out, and they’re there because they love movies.”

“It feels like exactly the right place to put this one in front of an audience for the first time,” the filmmaker added.