The first footage for the British crime thriller Rain Catcher just dropped, giving us a tense first look at a nocturnal London thriller heading straight for the festival circuit. Starring Dudley O’Shaughnessy and Iris Law, the project is officially locked to premiere in the Proxima Competition at the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this July.
We are looking at an incredibly dark, paranoid setup. O’Shaughnessy plays Miles, a voyeuristic photographer who documents London after dark under the pseudonym “Rain Catcher.” Things unravel fast when a mysterious woman starts appearing inside his photographs and actively sabotaging his actual life, a situation that forces him and his neighbor Yumi to hunt down her identity, according to the official Deadline release.
And yes, if the core concept sounds familiar, there is a good reason for that. Director Michele Fiascaris is making his feature-length debut here, but he isn’t starting from scratch. This 110-minute feature is actually a direct, massive expansion of his own 16-minute short film by the exact same name. That original short made waves at genre events like Screamfest LA back in 2019. O’Shaughnessy is stepping right back into the shoes of the character he originated seven years ago.
The festival competition isn’t going to be a walk in the park. The Proxima section at Karlovy Vary specifically hunts for aggressive contemporary work from emerging filmmakers, focusing entirely on debut and sophomore features. When the festival kicks off later this month, Rain Catcher will go head-to-head against some incredibly strong international entries, including Miroslav Terzić’s 3 Weeks After and Šimon Holý’s Chica Checa.