Longtime readers of the site (along with those who may have talked about movies with me over the last year) are likely already aware of my love for Jordan Graham’s Sator. It’s the kind of film that makes a festival for you. It’s the type of movie that intrigues you with a couple of images and a synopsis, and then surpasses your expectations.

Sator was a labor of love for multi-hyphenate Graham, and that shines through in every frame, transcending the film’s modest budget. I watched the film, transfixed, several times before publishing my review from last year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, which you can find here. I had no idea when I might be able to see the film again, a fact I’ve bemoaned repeatedly when recommending it to eager horror fans.

the kind of film that makes a festival for you

So you can imagine my surprise when I got the press release today announcing that Sator has been picked up for a winter release in North America courtesy of 1091 Pictures and Yellow Veil Pictures. Read the press release in full below, and keep your eyes peeled for Sator later this year!

Press Release

Jordan Graham’s haunting feature SATOR has been acquired by 1091 Pictures for North American Release. The film, hailed as “strikingly atmospheric” by Variety, premiered at the 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival and went on to have celebrated screenings at Telluride Horror Show and the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival before being brought to the Marche Du Film Online by arthouse genre film sales outfit Yellow Veil Pictures.

Nearly a one-person operation, Jordan Graham is the director, writer, editor and producer of SATOR, in addition to lensing and scoring the feature. “Sator is quite personal to me. It delves into my family’s dark history with mental illness surrounding a supernatural entity, and uses home video footage to create an interwoven piece between documentary and fiction,” says Graham. “After working on this project for seven years, I am so grateful that 1091 has picked up the film, allowing it to finally find an audience.”

The film follows as a demon known as Sator observes an intimate family secluded in the woods. Graham’s own grandmother, June Peterson, now passed, recounts her real personal history with the mysterious entity on-screen alongside newcomers Michael Daniel, Aurora Lowe, Gabriel Nicholson and Rachel Johnson.

The deal was negotiated by Lev-Avery Peck for 1091 Pictures and Yellow Veil Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers.