Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad’s Child Haunts UK Cinemas This October
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Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad’s Psychological Horror Child Haunts UK Cinemas This October
How far would you go to save your child — and what happens when saving them requires doing something unforgivable?
Cynefilms is bringing Child, the psychological horror from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad, to UK cinemas from 2nd October following its festival debut at Raindance.
Built around grief, desperation and the increasingly dangerous choices parents will make when faced with the unthinkable, Child takes a deeply personal approach to horror rather than relying on spectacle.
The film follows Anne and Greg, parents facing the possibility of losing their young son as his time begins to run out. With conventional options disappearing, the couple becomes willing to sacrifice almost anything for one final chance to save him.
But there are some lines that cannot be crossed without consequences.
After Anne and Greg make an unforgivable moral choice, their desperate attempt to save their son becomes something far darker. They find themselves trapped inside an escalating nightmare where each decision carries another price — and escaping what they have started may no longer be possible.
It is the kind of premise that works because the horror begins somewhere completely understandable. The fear of losing a child provides Neshvad with an emotionally grounded foundation before the film begins pushing its characters into increasingly uncomfortable territory.
Child had its World Premiere in the First Feature strand of the 2026 Raindance Film Festival, where it received a nomination for the Discovery Award for Best Debut Feature.
Early festival reactions have highlighted that combination of emotional intimacy and psychological horror. Filmhounds Magazine awarded the film four stars and praised Neshvad’s exploration of grief, love and desperation, while Warped Perspective highlighted its humane, character-driven approach to increasingly bizarre circumstances.
Neshvad arrives at his feature work after earning an Academy Award nomination for his short film The Red Suitcase, and Child appears to continue his interest in placing characters inside situations where personal choices collide with circumstances increasingly beyond their control.
The cast includes César Award winner Malik Zidi (Oxygen), Brigitte Urhausen (Fils), Lydia Indjova (Sunny Beach), Anne Klein (The Roaming) and Dmytro Yaroshenko (L’été de Jahia).
There has been no shortage of horror in recent years built around grief and fractured families, but Child has an especially nasty question sitting at the center of its story: when a parent believes there is still a chance to save their child, is there actually a point where they would be willing to stop?
And what happens when they don’t?
Child arrives in UK cinemas from 2nd October via Cynefilms.
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