Banishment

You are our last hope. You are our biggest danger.

In production with Dark Tower Films, summer 2020.

 
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Logline

Isolated in a cabin in the woods, an asymptomatic carrier of a deadly virus provides daily blood samples to be studied remotely by his wife, a scientist in DC. But when he loses contact with her, he begins to suspect they may both be prisoners. Now he must risk endangering himself, and others, to protect her.

Synopsis

Ravaged by a pandemic, society has collapsed. David Baldwin, an asymptomatic carrier of the disease, has been isolated in a remote mountain wilderness for two years, under observation by the CDC. Each day he sets a series of timers to regulate everything he does: eating; exercising; taking a sample of his blood; trading the blood for food under the watchful eye of a drone; talking to Sam, his epidemiologist wife.

After withholding his blood in an attempt to get better food, he loses contact with his wife. His routine breaks down. Venturing outside his safe zone, he discovers a figure in a hazmat suit roaming the woods with a crossbow, and a mysterious voice on the telephone who claims to be a survivor. Strange noises come from the woods at night, and there are footprints outside his door in the morning. To save Sam, he has to put the pieces together, not knowing if what’s around the next corner could kill him, or be killed by his condition.

Banishment is a film about isolation, loneliness, and trust. How long can you endure being alone? Who do you trust when your experience is at odds with what you’re being told? What would you do to protect the ones you love, when the biggest danger to them might be you?

Team

Dark Tower Films is an award-winning production company specializing in high concept genre-blending horror and thriller films. “Bloodyback” (2016) won at ZedFest and Atlanta Horror Film Festival, “Ice Man” (2019) won at ZedFest, “DungeonBros” (2016) screened and won awards at fantasy cons around the US, and “Orcs of New York” (2018) was watched half a million times on Facebook and was featured in the Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, the Nerdist, Tor.com, Hypable, and Geek and Sundry.

Co-writer and actor Harry Aspinwall grew up in Scotland and has been working in film in the US for eight years. His recent screenplay “Henrietta” won Fresh Voices, was a finalist in ScreenCraft Film Fund and WeScreenplay’s Diverse Voices, and was admitted to Stowe Story Labs. Other screenplays have been finalists in ScreenCraft, Atlanta Film Festival, and Sundance Labs. Last year he was a screenwriter in residence at ArtFarm and The Studios of Key West. As an actor he’s co-starred on AMC’s “Turn: Washington’s Spies” and Esquire’s “The Getaway”, and has appeared in numerous independent features and shorts, including starring in Dark Tower’s “Bloodyback” and “Ice Man”. He co-stars in Netflix’s “The Sleepover” opposite Ken Marino, Malin Akerman, Joe Manganiello, and Alyssa Milano, coming out in August.

Co-writer and director Daniel Byers has spent much of his career capturing expeditions around the world as a documentary filmmaker. He's tracked cartels along the rivers of Honduras, chased the elusive snow leopard through the mountains of Afghanistan, and rafted through the icebergs on unstable glacial lakes in the shadow of Everest. His films have been featured internationally at major conferences such as the Durban Climate Change Conference and international festival screenings and awards including the Banff Mountain Film Festival and International Wildlife Film Festival. When not in the field, Daniel has a particular love for crafting dark fantasy film narratives like Bloodyback and DungeonBros. He also applies his directorial skills in other such productive fashions as DMing Dungeons and Dragons and giving chilling and life-altering tarot readings.

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