Greenwich Entertainment Buy Vicky Krieps, Dacre Montgomery Ghost Story ‘Went Up the Hill’

Greenwich Entertainment has picked up North American rights to Went Up The Hill, a psychological drama/ghost story from New Zealand director Samuel Van Grinsven (Sequin in a Blue Room) with Stranger Things actor Dacre Montgomery and Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, Old).

Montgomery plays Jack, a man abandoned as a child who travels to remote New Zealand to attend the funeral of his estranged mother Elizabeth. There he meets her widow, Jill (Krieps), whose relationship with his mother was less than peaceful. Over a series of nights, the ghost of Elizabeth returns to possess Jack and Jill in turn, using each of their bodies to speak to the other. Caught in a life-threatening nocturnal dance, Jack and Jill must find a way to relinquish Elizabeth’s hold before she pushes them to the edge.

Went Up the Hill premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, where it wowed Hollywood Reporter critic Caryn James, who said in her review that Samuel Van Grinsven’s “elliptical, poetic, technically stunning film is a ghost story that rarely does more than nod at horror tropes. The film pointedly uses that ghost as a means of exploring grief, abandonment and the emotional chaos the dead woman caused even while she was still alive.”

“Following our beautiful launch in Toronto, it’s a thrill that Greenwich will now bring Went Up The Hill to cinemas,” said the director in a statement. “I cannot wait for U.S. audiences to see both Vicky and Dacre’s haunting performances in these truly unique roles.”

Greenwich will release the film in theaters across the country this summer.

Went Up the Hill was produced by Vicky Pope, Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton. Production companies were POP Film and Causeway Films.

Greenwich’s Andy Bohn negotiated the acquisition with CAA Media Finance and Bankside Films on behalf of the filmmakers.