Hold Still

Erotic thriller feature film

Written and directed by Orla Doyle and starring Julia Gardell

Logline:

A young photographer haunted by a premonition of her own death arrives at an isolated artist’s residency in New Zealand, where she falls for a reclusive deer hunter. But as the lines between desire and dread blur before her lens, she begins to suspect that fate brought her here for a reason, one she may not survive.

Synopsis:

26 year old Claire, a photographer drawn to capturing beauty in the unsettling, has always sensed things before they come, glimpses of something dark just out of frame. When she travels to the secluded estate of Driftwood in the mountains of New Zealand’s South Island for a prestigious creative residency, she searches for inspiration amongst the wild and rugged landscapes that surround her and the people within them. Here, her artistic obsession is brought into focus by a bruising love affair with a reclusive deer hunter named Hector, behind the back of Hector’s troubled and volatile girlfriend, Robyn. But when Robyn goes missing, and Hector is suspected of being responsible, Claire is torn between her feverish desire for him, and a fear for her life. As she begins to uncover the mystery that her photographs have unwillingly entangled her in, capturing shadows of moments not yet lived and images that whisper of tragedy, Claire must learn to decipher between what she’s really seeing, and what is a trick of the light, refracting through a strange and dangerous lens. An atmospheric erotic thriller with the soul of a gothic romance, Hold Still explores the intimacy between artist and subject, the tension between control and surrender, and the unnerving possibility that fate might already be in motion; and love, the beginning of the end.

Where the tortured characters and atmospheric landscapes of Wuthering Heights meets the contemporary and troubled romance of Twilight, and the gothic thrills of Daphne Du-Maurier’s Rebecca meets the erotic cinematic style of Jane Campion’s The Piano, Hold Still tells a darkly romantic tale of forbidden love, second sight, and artistic obsession, where the tension between fate and chance is explored through the lens of a photographer coming to terms with her own clairvoyance.

Hold Still takes place within and around Driftwood (pictured), a grand house reminiscent of Rebecca’s Manderley, or Jane Eyre’s Thornfield Hall, nestled amongst the rugged, windswept landscapes of Lake Wakatipu, Glenorchy.

  • Orla Doyle

    Writer I Director I Producer

    A 2020 Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Nominee for her debut short HEAD SPINS, Orla’s 2022 drama web series SIRENS garnered numerous awards at festivals internationally, including Best Direction and Best Student Series at the London International Web and Shorts Film Festival, before being acquired for ABC iView. In 2023 Orla co-founded production company SEYMOUR PICTURES to produce indie romance drama feature TWO UGLY PEOPLE. HOLD STILL is Orla’s debut feature film as a writer director.

  • Julia Gardell

    Actor I Producer

    Playing the lead role of CLAIRE in HOLD STILL, Julia’s breakout performance in web series SIRENS received international attention at festivals around the world. With experience working globally in the high-end fashion industry, Julia has since turned her attention to acting and producing as a co-founder of SEYMOUR PICTURES, where she produced and starred in short film SNAKES AND LADDERS and produced indie romance feature film TWO UGLY PEOPLE.

  • Peter Skinner

    Producer

    An Academy Award qualifying, St Kilda best film winning and Australian Directors Guild nominated writer and director, Peter’s debut feature TWO UGLY PEOPLE is due for completion in 2025. Also a Producer on the film and a co-founder of SEYMOUR PICTURES, Peter is highly experienced in the world of independent film production, and passionate about creating opportunities for exciting new cinematic voices in Australia.

“Between desire and darkness, between mystery and madness, lies the truth”

Hold Still is currently in development for production in 2025. For more information or materials please contact peter@seymourpictures.com

All images included are shot in secured locations.