Los Angeles-based distribution and entertainment company Cineverse along with its streaming company Fandor have acquired the U.S. rights to Toronto Metropolitan University professor Alireza Khatami’s Sundance thriller The Things You Kill.

Cineverse is planning to theatrically release the Turkish-language feature in the fall with a digital release to follow. The deal was negotiated by Brandon Hill, executive director, acquisitions on behalf of Cineverse with Charles Bin of Best Friend Forever, the film’s international sales agent, representing the filmmakers.

“The U.S. has always been a meaningful audience for my work—especially for The Things You Kill, which echoes the American tradition of psychological thrillers,” said Khatami in a statement. “It’s a grounded exploration of masculinity, grief and guilt, with a couple of sharp turns I can’t wait to surprise audiences with.”

The Things You Kill, written, directed and edited by Khatami, is a Canada/Turkey/France/Poland coproduction. The film is produced by Khatami for his Toronto-based Tell Tall Tale, Michael Solomon for Montreal’s Les Films Band With Pictures, Elisa Sepulveda Ruddoff for France’s Fulgurance, Cyriac Auriol for France’s Remora Films and Mariusz Włodarski for Poland’s Lava Films along with Turkey’s Sineaktif.

The film made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival link in January where it later won the Directing Award in the World Cinema Dramatic category. The Things You Kill follows a university professor, haunted by the suspicious death of his mother, who coerces his gardener into killing his father.

The film stars Ekin Koç (Tas Kagit Makas), Erkan Kolçak Köstendil (Simarik), Hazar Ergüçlu (Benim Dünyam) and Kesal (Çukur).

The Things You Kill was financed by Telefilm Canada, the Polish Film Institute, Arte Cofinova and Eurimages. It was supported by Ile-de-France, the World Cinema Fund, the Torino Film Lab and Canadian federal and Ontario tax credits.

The film marks Khatami’s third feature, following his 2017 Spanish-language Oblivion Verses and his 2023 co-directed, Persian-language Terrestrial Verses.

Production on the film began in July 2023 and ran until August.

Image courtesy of the Sundance Institute; photo by Bartosz Świniarski