Steve Pink, best known for directing the cult comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, returns with a genre-bending twist in Terrestrial — a darkly comedic sci-fi thriller set to premiere July 30 at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.
Jermaine Fowler (The Blackening, Sorry to Bother You) leads the ensemble cast as Allen, a once-struggling science-fiction writer whose sudden success raises more questions than celebration when old friends come to visit.
The cast also includes James Morosini (It’s What’s Inside), Pauline Chalamet (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Edy Modica (Jury Duty), Rob Yang (Succession, The Menu), and Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso). The script was penned by Connor Diedrich and Samuel Johnson, with Chalamet also serving as one of the film’s producers.
Terrestrial centers around four college friends reuniting at Allen’s lavish mansion in the Hollywood Hills. Once scraping by, Allen is now flush with a book and movie deal based on his upcoming sci-fi series The Neptune Cycle, inspired by his literary idol, S.J. Purcell (played by Hunt).
But what starts as a celebratory reunion quickly spirals into something stranger. Allen’s erratic behavior, combined with odd occurrences around the house, force his friends to question what’s real, what’s imagined, and whether they’re truly alone.
According to the official synopsis:
“Allen paints his life as a beautiful masterpiece, but cracks in the story begin to form. The discrepancies in his tale — and suspicious happenings around the house — cause Allen’s friends to question the stories he tells. As his story unravels, the three friends soon learn they are involved in something they never signed up for.”
Fantasia programmer Matthew Kiernan describes Terrestrial as “a completely original and unpredictable dark comedy sci-fi thriller about belonging, paranoia, and idolatry.”
While Pink is no stranger to offbeat narratives — with past writing credits including High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank — this marks one of his most stylistically daring works to date. Early glimpses of the film hint at an eerie atmosphere with flashes of alien lore, Hollywood satire, and a creeping sense of dread.
The teaser trailer features Allen monologuing about The Neptune Cycle and the alien beings at the center of his writing:
“They come to Earth in secret and they choose when to be seen. And they choose when to remain hidden.”
Is Allen tapping into something real, or has success driven him over the edge?
The film is produced by Josh Jason, Molly Gilula, Molly Conners, AJ Bourscheid, Austin Lantero, Rachel Walden, Pauline Chalamet, and Luca Balser.
Terrestrial will make its world premiere July 30 as part of Fantasia Film Festival’s Cheval Noir competition section. No wider release date has been announced yet, but with its stellar cast, psychological intrigue, and teaser that leaves just enough mystery, Terrestrial is already positioning itself as one of the more buzzworthy indie genre films of the summer.
Check out the official teaser trailer for Terrestrial below.