The Occupant: Teaser trailer for survival sci-fi thriller
Date Posted: June 5, 2025
Photo: Ella Balinska in The Occupant.
Ella Balinska and Rob Delaney star in The Occupant..
A woman’s desperate journey back to her dying sister leads to a tough choice in the upcoming sci-fi thriller The Occupant.
In The Occupant, desperate to fund an experimental treatment for her sister Beth’s terminal cancer, Abby takes a high-risk but well-paid job at a uranium mine in Northern Georgia. Her attempt to return home after discovering a mysterious, potentially valuable mineral element is halted after her helicopter crashes in the remote mountains. Stranded, she finds hope through John, an American pilot radioing from nearby. As their connection deepens, Abby uncovers a disturbing truth about John, forcing her to make an impossible choice.
Written by Philip Michael Howe, Roelof Jan Minneboo (Corn Island), Xiao Tang and Hugo Keijzer and directed by Keijzer, the movie stars Ella Balinska (Resident Evil), Rob Delaney (Catastrophe), Stuart Graham (Hunger), Vanessa Ifediora (Belfast) and Armin Karima (Sex Education).
“With The Occupant, I set out to construct a narrative that addresses a difficult and deeply personal theme, wrapped within the genre conventions of a sci-fi thriller,” says director Hugo Keijzer. “At its core, this is the story of a young person’s journey toward accepting the inevitable death of her sister, whom she loves more than anything in her life.
“This could have made for a compelling kitchen sink drama, but because of the specific nature of Abby’s character and my desire to make this story accessible to a wider audience, her journey takes us on a physical rollercoaster ride through uninhabitable terrain, to the brink of death, and down a dark place where she’s offered the most difficult choice of her life…”
The Occupant is available on Digital Platforms 1 September. Distributed by Signature Entertainment.
The film was supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, the UK Global Screen Fund, Northern Ireland Screen and ESC Studios, and financing was led by Orogen Entertainment. Blair Ward, Anders Erdén and Lauren Case serve as executive producers. Shooting took place in Georgia and Northern Ireland.
