has boarded Icelandic crime drama “Cold,” directed by Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen and based on the bestselling book “The Undesired” by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir. Still in production, it was recently pitched at Venice Gap-Financing Market.
“On the surface, ‘Cold’ certainly seems like a classic Nordic noir. But what makes it so interesting – and what makes Yrsa such a compelling author – is that the story constantly and deliberately veers away from these familiar elements, pulling the rug from under our feet,” Thoroddsen tells“Every time you think you know where the story is going, something happens. A big part of what attracted me to the adaptation was that idea of gleeful subversion of expectations,” he adds.
“At first, it was more about the thrill of watching something that was forbidden. As I got older, I realized that horror had so much more to offer. It allows a filmmaker, as well as the audience, to touch upon very real and universal themes and fears,” he observes. “I love that queer horror is having a cultural moment, even though I would argue that horror has always been queer. It operates outside of the norm and it’s an inherently rebellious genre.”