Experimental Thriller Acquired for TIFF Sales
U.S. sales firm Mavryk has acquired worldwide rights to 'And Her Body Was Never Found' ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival market. The experimental thriller, which premiered at SXSW, marks the directorial debut of Polaris Banks, who co-wrote it with Mor Cohen. The plot follows a married couple whose wilderness trip takes a dark turn.
Mavryk's pickup positions the film for international buyers attending the Toronto International Film Festival's market, a key venue for independent titles seeking distribution deals. The acquisition follows the movie's premiere at SXSW, where it generated attention as a genre-bending debut.
Banks and Cohen share both writing and acting duties, with Cohen appearing opposite Banks in the lead roles. The narrative centers on a couple's attempt to salvage their marriage through a remote wilderness excursion, which unravels when a casual remark about danger becomes something more ominous, prompting the film to abandon its conventional structure.
This acquisition could signal growing marketplace appetite for formally inventive genre work that challenges narrative conventions. Independent filmmakers may benefit if the TIFF market generates competitive bidding, potentially expanding distribution pathways for experimental cinema. Audiences seeking alternatives to mainstream thrillers may gain access to more daring storytelling, though the film's unconventional approach could limit its commercial reach to niche festival-oriented viewers.