Featuring one of my favorite performances in 2018, Alex Haughey and Brian Vidal's Prodigy is coming to Netflix on August 22nd, bringing the superb, claustrophobic character study (in case you missed it, read my review here) to a wider audience:

Press Release: The feature film Prodigy makes its Netflix debut on Wednesday, August 22. This “little indie that could” has chugged all the way to the top of the streaming food chain.

Released by Gravitas Ventures in March, the title performed so well On Demand, it caught the eye of the industry giant when it came time to find a more permanent home.

Prodigy is a contained, psychological thriller with some Twilight Zone-esque edge. Here is a brief synopsis:

A discrete branch of the military calls upon psychologist James Fonda to take the case of a dangerous patient, nine-year-old Ellie. As their session begins, the young girl dissects Dr. Fonda's unconventional methods, revealing her genius-level intellect. Only by challenging her to a battle of wits does Fonda begin to unravel the supernatural mystery surrounding Ellie -- a deadly secret that threatens to destroy them both.

Prodigy wrapped an eventful festival run last year, accepting invites to nine festivals, including trips to Cinequest, Fantaspoa (Brazil) and Santa Cruz -- where the film took home Best Narrative Feature honors. The film carried that success into its digital release, drawing a broad audience on Amazon, and maintaining a fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.

Written and directed by Alex Haughey and Brian Vidal, the film stars Richard Neil (Veronica Mars, Horizon Zero Dawn) and introduces 9-year-old Savannah Liles in the titular role. Savannah has received universal praise for her work, and recently won both a Young Entertainer and Young Artist Award for her performance as a “miniature Hannibal Lecter”.

  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.