Sumerian Pictures acquires U.S. rights to two-time Sundance award winner Josephine from Soft & Quiet director Beth de Araújo

Mason Lily Reeves, Channing Tatum, and Gemma Chan in Josephine - Courtesy of Sumerian Pictures

Following its critically acclaimed premiere at Sundance last month, Josephine has been acquired by Sumerian Pictures in a competitive seven-figure deal. The company has committed to a major theatrical release and an awards campaign. Josephine won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic at Sundance.

Though not a straight-up horror movie, the feature does have thriller elements and was directed by Beth de Araújo, whose feature debut, Soft & Quiet, premiered at South by Southwest in 2022 and was then acquired by Blumhouse and released by Momentum Pictures. Soft & Quiet is a much more straightforward horror/thriller. It follows Emily (Stefanie Estes), a white supremacist who organizes a mixer with like-minded folks, triggering a grisly chain of events.

Josephine, meanwhile, features a breakout performance from Mason Lily Reeves as the title character. In the opening minutes, she witnesses a rape in Golden Gate Park, which haunts her for the duration of the runtime. Her trauma puts her at odds with her parents, Damien (Channing Tatum) and Claire (Gemma Chan), who try their best to help their daughter address and deal with what she witnessed. Eventually, pressure is placed upon Josephine to testify against the accused, Greg, played by Philip Ettinger.

The feature is very much about overcoming and slaying monsters. Josephine continually sees Greg everywhere that she looks. His image even follows her when she and her family move, hoping this will help Josephine learn to cope and eventually, bury the past. Like Soft & Quiet, Josephine is an uncompromising film that deals with very tough subject matter, focused on an eight-year-old's perspective.

In a press release, Araújo noted, "I'm pleased to see Sumerian has emerged as the new distribution company, made up of people who love films and are committed to inviting audiences into the theaters." In that same release, Sumerian founder Ash Avildsen and Sumerian Pictures President, Rob Williams, called the film “an enthralling, deeply emotional, and powerful film that deserves all the acclaim and accolades it has already received from Sundance. We are so thrilled to be working with Beth de Araújo and the whole team to bring this to audiences with Sumerian Pictures.” 

Founded by Avildsen, Sumerian is an artists-led independent creative studio celebrating 20 years of making music as Sumerian Records. The company more recently expanded into film distribution (Sumerian Pictures) and published media, and graphic novels under the banner of Sumerian Comics.  

There is no word yet on Josephine's release date. Soft & Quiet is available to stream on the Roku Channel and Plex. it's also available to rent on most major streaming platforms.