Penny Lane is Dead (CTC)

Set during the sweltering Australian summer of 1986, Penny Lane is Dead is the ferocious debut feature from writer-director Mia’Kate Russell. Penny Lane and her best friends Toni and Amy are celebrating Penny’s university acceptance with a debauched ‘no dick event’ at a remote beach house. But the night spirals into chaos when Penny’s volatile cousin Kat arrives uninvited, spiked cupcake in hand and a cruel agenda in tow. Things turn deadly with the arrival of Kat’s seedy boyfriend Angus and his crew - Rodowsky and the menacing Merrick.

What begins as a night of celebration unravels into a brutal fight for survival. Fuelled by punk-rock energy and pitch-black humour, Penny Lane is Dead tears into internalised misogyny, toxic masculinity and the gendered violence simmering beneath Australia’s sunburnt surface. With breakout performances and razor-sharp direction, Mia’Kate Russell delivers a bold, blood-soaked genre piece that blends savage satire with cult-cinema attitude - an electrifying new voice in Australian film.

Cast: Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, Tahlee Fereday, Alexandra Jensen, Bailey Spalding, Steve Le Marquand, Fletcher Humphrys, Ben O'Toole

Director: Mia Kate Russell

★★★★ "Penny Lane is Dead is replete with fantastic performances, a banging soundtrack, and a deep understanding of genre, time, and place. It’s a bloody ripper!" THE CURB

"a 90-minute blast of toxic masculinity smashing that will have you hooting and hollering along" SCREEN HUB