The undead are rising again, this time under the direction of one of modern horror’s most promising voices. Award-winning filmmaker Chloe Okuno, best known for her acclaimed thriller Watcher, has officially begun production on Brides, a stylish and blood-soaked vampire feature Set in 1960s Northern Italy. The film, backed by NEON and Likely Story, promises an operatic exploration of seduction, repression, and transformation.
Set against the lush but isolating backdrop of a remote Italian villa, Brides follows Sally Bishop (played by House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke) and her husband as they find themselves stranded in a strange estate run by the magnetic and unsettling Vova (Harry Lawtey). Casting beyond Olivia Cooke and Harry Lawtey has been kept under wraps, though industry chatter has linked names like Jodie Turner-Smith and Viola Prettejohn to supporting roles.
Okuno, who also penned the screenplay, has described the film as “a gothic nightmare about desire and control,” drawing inspiration from Bram Stoker’s Dracula but through a distinctly feminine lens. Okuno has previously said she views vampirism as a metaphor for power and desire.
The project has been in quiet development since 2024, with early reports suggesting that Maika Monroe (It Follows) was once attached before Cooke stepped into the lead. According to early production listings, filming is expected to take place partly in Budapest. Okuno is expected to collaborate again with her Watcher creative team.
Produced by Anthony Bregman and Stefanie Azpiazu for Likely Story, and distributed by NEON, Brides marks one of the company’s most ambitious horror projects to date. NEON, which also released Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs and Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool, has a reputation for championing auteur-driven genre films that blend arthouse style with visceral terror, and Brides seems poised to follow that bloodline.
Set for a mid-2027 theatrical release, Brides has already generated strong buzz within the horror community for its blend of high-style Gothic horror and feminist reinvention. Early reports suggest the film blends Gothic atmosphere with modern feminist themes, ‘Dario Argento by way of Sofia Coppola,’ as one fan blog described it.
Okuno’s meticulous approach to tension and her fascination with female subjectivity make her one of the most exciting directors working in horror today. With Brides, she appears ready to redefine the vampire myth once again, less about monsters in the dark, and more about the beauty and horror of wanting to live forever.
When asked what drew her to the project, Okuno said, “It’s about the eternal, the eternal night, the eternal hunger, the eternal longing to be seen.”
If Watcher turned paranoia into poetry, Brides looks ready to turn immortality into art.
