Alamo Exclusives Brings Indie Dystopian ‘Littermates’ to Theaters This November
One of the indie discoveries from this summer’s festival circuit is getting a wider theatrical opportunity. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has selected Scott Tinkham and Michael Woloson’s darkly comic dystopian feature Littermates as the second release under its Alamo Exclusives distribution program.
The film will open at more than 30 Alamo Drafthouse locations nationwide beginning Nov. 6. Before that theatrical rollout, Littermates will receive a special Fantastic Fest presentation Sept. 20 at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin.
The Fantastic Fest screening will be followed by a conversation hosted by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema CEO Michael Kustermann and festival director Lisa Dreyer. Tinkham and Woloson will participate alongside executive producer Haley Nicole Johnson and cast members Oliver Woolf and Joey Bader.
For HMU, the announcement is particularly welcome. Littermates was one of our favorite independent films from the summer festival circuit, and we saw it at Dances with Films LA . Its Fantastic Fest appearance now gives another festival audience an opportunity to discover a film that has steadily built momentum throughout 2026.
Produced in just 15 days, Littermates uses a deliberately contained production to construct a much larger dystopian world. Most of the conflict exists beyond the boundaries of an isolated cottage, with four principal performers and the sounds and consequences of a mysterious war providing the foundation for its unusual mixture of tension, absurdist comedy and family drama.
The story follows Liam and Mel, two bloodied and disoriented survivors who arrive at a cottage in the English countryside with little understanding of what has happened to them. They are taken in by Chester, an enigmatic caretaker who feeds them, helps them learn to speak again and establishes an increasingly peculiar domestic routine.
Good behavior is rewarded with “nifties,” tokens that can be exchanged for comforts including karaoke, favorite meals, dance parties and time in the hot tub. Beyond the cottage, explosions, gunfire and sirens suggest a much larger conflict. Inside, the strange family unit begins to fracture as questions surrounding their circumstances become increasingly difficult to ignore.
Tinkham and Woloson said the film grew from an interest in sibling relationships, particularly their mixture of primal bonds and seemingly trivial conflicts.
“We made Littermates to explore the strange, primal, and often trivial relationship between siblings,” the directors said in a statement. “At its heart, the film is an unconventional coming-of-age story set against a dystopian backdrop.”
The film stars Bader as Liam, Kaylee McGregor as Mel, Woolf as Chester and Jack Redmayne as the Stranger. Tinkham wrote the screenplay, while Woolf, Woloson, Tinkham and McGregor produced. Woloson also served as cinematographer and editor, with Noa Margalit providing the original score. That’s The Fish produced the film, with Johnson serving as executive producer.
Since the production, McGregor, who stars as Mel and also served as a producer, has been named president of production and development at Sydney Sweeney’s Honey Trap production label.
Littermates has already collected recognition during its festival run, winning the Special Jury Prize at the 2026 Manchester Film Festival and the Narrative Feature Audience Award at Dances With Films LA.
“Littermates is exactly the kind of discovery Alamo Exclusives exists to champion,” Kustermann said. “It’s funny, audacious, visually confident, and nearly impossible to fit inside a conventional box.”
The release represents the latest step for Alamo Exclusives, the theatrical distribution initiative announced in July. The program is designed to give independent films that have generated attention on the festival circuit but have yet to secure traditional distribution an exclusive theatrical run through Alamo Drafthouse locations.
Littermates follows the program’s inaugural selection, Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt, which opened across 38 Alamo Drafthouse locations before being acquired by Sumerian Pictures for a broader theatrical release.
For Littermates, the move from the festival circuit to Fantastic Fest and then a multi-city theatrical engagement provides an expanded platform for a film made on intentionally limited resources. The approach is particularly fitting for a movie whose identity is closely tied to what its filmmakers were able to create from a single primary location, a small ensemble and a world largely suggested beyond the frame.
Additional participating theaters, showtimes, ticket information and special events for the Nov. 6 release will be announced in the coming weeks.
Littermates screens at Fantastic Fest on Sept. 20 before opening at more than 30 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations nationwide Nov. 6.
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