Sweet Relief Brings Viral Horror and Small-Town Tension to Screens June 27

Nick Verdi’s Sweet Relief premieres June 27, unraveling digital dares and real-world dread.

Arthouse Tension Meets Digital Dread in Nick Verdi’s Sweet Relief, Opening June 27

It’s no secret we’ve entered a new era of digital horror—where online challenges can feel just as dangerous as IRL threats—and Nick Verdi’s Sweet Relief leans all the way into that unease. Opening for a one-week theatrical run at the Laemmle Encino Town Center and streaming via Eventive on June 27, Sweet Relief is a cerebral descent into paranoia, fractured relationships, and the sinister overlap between screen time and real-time consequences.

Set in a quiet New England town, Sweet Relief begins with a deadly trend among teens: a viral murder game that dares participants to nominate someone they’d like to see die. When three high schoolers play it as a joke, things spiral quickly—because of course they do. But the brilliance of Verdi’s film lies not in its surface-level tech horror setup, but in how it threads seemingly disconnected lives into a tightly wound tapestry of dread.

Enter Jess and Nathan, a millennial couple stuck in the slow rot of small-town malaise. She’s curious. He’s irritated. And when Jess crosses paths with Gerald—a man who may or may not be a child killer masquerading as a police informant—Sweet Relief escalates into something darker, weirder, and far more disturbing than expected.

The ensemble cast is anchored by a haunting performance from Paul Lazar (Silence of the Lambs, The Host) as Mr. McDaniel, alongside standout turns from Alisa Leigh, B.R. Yeager, and Lucie Rosenfeld. This isn’t your typical viral horror flick; it’s an arthouse slow-burn that becomes steadily more unhinged, climaxing in an ending that’s as explosive as it is earned.

With a tight 87-minute runtime and a visual tone that creeps under your skin rather than jumping out at you, Verdi’s debut feature is a sharp signal that Sweet Relief is just the beginning. After a successful festival run at Chattanooga Film Fest, PUFF, Another Hole in the Head, and Sale Horror Fest, the film marks the first release under the new indie label Art Brut Films—launched by Charliebird producer Elliot Gipson to support transgressive, boundary-pushing cinema.

HOW TO WATCH

• Sweet Relief opens June 27 at Laemmle Encino Town Center

• Simultaneously available on premium VOD via Eventive: eventive.org

• Wider VOD release later this year