Dark Sky Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “The Vile,” an Arabic-language psychological horror film from Emirati director Majid Al Ansari that won Best Horror Feature at Fantastic Fest in 2025, Deadline reported Oct. 1. Deadline describes Dark Sky Films as the genre label of Watermelon Pictures co-founders Badie and Hamza Ali.
The film’s festival run
The movie debuted at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in September 2025 and took home the festival’s Best Horror Feature prize. It then screened at Sitges, the BFI London Film Festival and Busan, according to Deadline.
Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios produced the film. It is the first Arabic-language feature to come out of the two companies’ partnership.
What the story is about
Bdoor Mohammad (“Blood Wedding”) plays Amani, a wife and mother whose household is upended when her husband comes home with a second wife, Zahra, played by Sarah Taibah (“Jameel Jeddan”). Zahra is pregnant with what would be his first son.
Amani, determined to keep her place in the home and protect her daughter, Noor, starts to suspect Zahra is concealing something dark as unsettling events pile up. The film leaves it unclear for a time whether the threat is psychological or supernatural. Iman Tarik, Jasem Alkharraz and Samira Al Wahaibi round out the cast.
Al Ansari directed from a script he wrote with Johnnie Alward. It is his return to feature filmmaking after his acclaimed 2015 debut, “Zinzana,” and his work on the Netflix series “Paranormal.”
Who is behind the movie
The producers are Roy Lee (“Weapons,” “Barbarian”), Steven Schneider (“Strange Darling,” “Paranormal Activity”), Derek Dauchy (“Late Night with the Devil”) and Rami Yasin (“Hokum”). Mohamed Hefzy and Yasir Al Yasiri are executive producers. Rami Yasin also produced the Irish folk horror film “Hokum,” which Total Apex covered earlier this year.
Justin DiPietro, executive vice president of MPI Media Group, negotiated the deal with Jason Ishikawa of Cinetic Media, who represented the filmmakers.
What Dark Sky Films and Al Ansari said
“The Vile is exactly the kind of international genre filmmaking we want to champion at Dark Sky — bold, culturally specific and genuinely unsettling,” DiPietro said in a statement reported by Deadline. He also praised what he called “a remarkable performance from Bdoor Mohammad.”
Al Ansari said the film draws on a culture he knows well, but its emotions travel. “The feelings of betrayal, fear and a mother fighting to protect her family are universal,” he said. “I’m excited to partner with Dark Sky Films to bring the film to audiences across the United States.”
In the same statement, DiPietro said Al Ansari turned an intensely personal family conflict into “a sophisticated and frightening horror film,” which signals how Dark Sky Films plans to pitch it to U.S. horror fans.
What’s next
Dark Sky Films has not set a U.S. release date and said it will announce release plans at a later date. For more coverage, visit our movie news section or read about actors’ chilling on-set paranormal experiences.
