37: The Shadow and the Prey by Arthur Môllard is the first part of a collection dedicated to low-budget genre films (one million euros) intended to be released in cinemas. With the label “Parasomnia”, producers Marc Missonnier and Stéphane Huard wanted to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat and they succeeded quite well with these promising debuts.
The incursion of a young hitchhiker, nicknamed 37, into a trucker’s truck changes both of their lives by drawing them into a joyous game of cat and mouse. The whole thing joyfully claims to be American B series and has nothing to envy of them.
A new audience to seduce
“It’s no secret that teenagers are reluctant to see a French film,” sighs Stéphane Huard. Hence this question: what if we fought against this preconceived idea? » 37: The Shadow and the Prey marks a start in this direction by offering a clever scenario rich in adventures. Without spoiling, we will even say that the story is in line with burning news, the details of which we only discover during the plot.
The producers had to choose from more than 2,600 scenarios since they launched the project in 2021. The pitch about this trucker and his pregnant and armed passenger quickly caught their eye. “In this tense closed session in a truck was the promise of a film that is not like the average film,” specifies Marc Missonnier.
The fact that the scenario is anchored in our time also appealed to them because the societal dimension of the whole thing is a significant asset in their approach. “We wanted the scenarios to be contemporary with a message strong enough to not need to be hammered home,” says Stéphane Huard.
New talents
The Parasomnia label also allows us to highlight new talents such as filmmaker Arthur Mollärd who is making his first feature film and remarkable actors. The duo formed by Mélodie Simina and Guillaume Pottier increases the pressure thanks to characters with surprising developments.
37: The Shadow and the Prey plays the card of realistic suspense on the roads of France by following two left behind united by dramatic circumstances. “We bet on the curiosity of the public fans of genre cinema who, we hope, will become enthusiastic about films that no one had seen and actors who had not yet been identified before,” insists Marc Missonnier.
And then?
The next film labeled “Parasomina” will be very different. Last signal from Benjamin Busnel should revolve around a mysterious plane indistinguishable by radar and Kyma by Romain Daudet-Jahan around a strange creature that manifests itself through sound. The producers assure that another project, currently being filmed, is a science fiction story. We will carefully watch their releases in the hope that they will prove to be as interesting as 37: The Shadow and the Prey.
