Production wraps on Paul Hyett’s Peripheral, starring Hannah Arterton

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Paul Hyett has been very busy lately. While the FX artist continues to work on films in the makeup and effects department, he is also pursuing his directorial career. He started off with the revenge thriller THE SEASONING HOUSE, and in the last 18 months his "werewolves on a train" movie HOWL was released, his rabid dog project THE POOL went to the American Film Market, he shot the supernatural horrors of HERETIKS, and then re-teamed with HERETIKS star Hannah Arterton on the sci-fi conspiracy thriller PERIPHERAL.

PERIPHERAL wrapped production two weeks ago, just in time to be presented to potential buyers at this year's American Film Market, with The Salt Company handling sales.

Produced by Bill Kenwright and Craig Tuohy of Bill Kenwright Productions, the film was written by Dan Schaffer (DOGHOUSE) and stars Arterton as 

a young writer who enters into a Faustian pact with her publisher. Convinced to use a new smart editing software she stumbles upon a conspiracy of social control. As her mind unravels she finds herself going head to head with an artificial intelligence that is determined to write her book for her.

That story could call for a lot of scenes of the lead character typing at a computer, presenting a "Can I make this interesting?" challenge to the director and star. Still, I'm intrigued, as the plot description brings to mind THEY LIVE and DEMON SEED.

Arterton's co-stars include Jenny Seagrove, Tom Conti, and Elliot James Langridge.

We'll keep you updated as further details are revealed about PERIPHERAL's eventual release.

Hannah and her sister Gemma