Dark forces lurk behind the sunny façade of an unassuming Australian suburb in Ben Young's stylish '80s-set directorial debut. Seventeen-year-old Vicki Maloney is stuck inside an unhappy home with parents on the verge of divorce. Feeling rebellious, she sneaks out of their house and is accosted by neighbors John and Evelyn White, a mentally unhinged couple who lure her with marijuana before tying her up to a bed inside their squalid home as their own personal torture subject. Pushed to her limits, Vicki soon realizes that her only hope for survival is to play on the Whites’ instabilities in order to drive a wedge between her unhinged captors and escape by any means necessary.

Drawing inspiration from the real-life Aussie serial killers, writer-director Ben Young delivers a visceral upper-cut of a debut with Hounds of Love, a remarkably assured first feature that expertly escalates tension and crafts a chilling atmosphere through mesmerizing cinematography and a haunting 80s soundtrack.

—Ian Hollander

Presented in Partnership with Venice Days.