Douen, the new independent horror film from writer-director Alyscia Cunningham, will screen November 1 at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, followed by a Q&A with Cunningham. The event runs from 6:00 to 8:15 PM, with a VIP pre-screening reception starting at 4:30 PM featuring food from The Exotic Chef and folklore-themed cocktails sponsored by J. Hollinger’s Waterman’s Chophouse.
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The film follows Sania, a first-generation Trinidadian American whose life unravels after she begins experiencing terrifying encounters with Douens, mischievous spirits from Trinbagonian folklore said to be the souls of children who died before baptism. Her encounters pull her into a buried family history tracing back to Trinidad and Tobago and the unexplained disappearance of her mother’s younger brother, with her aunt Sybil and a priestess guiding her toward secrets her family has carried for generations. Cunningham, an award-winning documentary and horror filmmaker, draws heavily on her Caribbean heritage throughout her work, with much of her portfolio centered on Trinidadian folklore horror, ancestral mythology, and historical legacy.
Douen stars an ensemble cast including Rain Pryor, Diann Marshall, and Kike Ayodeji. The November 1 screening will be emceed by Claudia Carter, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of DC, with Dr. Cécile Accilien, professor of French and Francophone Studies and director of graduate studies in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Maryland, moderating the post-screening conversation.
Caribbean folklore remains underrepresented in horror even as the genre continues expanding its cultural reach, and Douen’s approach, using Trinbagonian mythology specifically to explore generational trauma and unresolved family history, offers a story rooted in a tradition rarely centered on screen. The film pairs supernatural horror with a grounded examination of what happens when painful family history goes unspoken for generations, and what healing looks like when an apology never comes.
Tickets for the screening are available in advance only, with VIP reception tickets sold separately, both through the film’s official site. Douen is also set to screen at film festivals throughout 2027, with details expected on the film’s website. Press materials, including full production credits, are available through the film’s publicity contact, Firefly Media.
With its festival run just beginning, Douen adds to a small but growing wave of films using specific, regional folklore traditions to tell horror stories that double as explorations of inherited family trauma.