How far would you go to save your child?
That question sits at the heart of CHILD, a new mystery suspense thriller from Oscar nominee Cyrus Neshvad, and judging by the newly released trailer, the answer may lead somewhere far darker than anyone could imagine.
Cynefilms has announced that CHILD will arrive in UK cinemas on October 2, following its world premiere at the 2026 Raindance Film Festival, where it competed in the First Feature strand and earned a nomination for the Discovery Award for Best Debut Feature.
The film follows Anne and Greg, parents facing an impossible situation as their young son runs out of time. Desperate to save him, they make a decision that crosses what should be an unforgivable moral boundary. Instead of securing their son’s future, however, they find themselves trapped inside a nightmare where every attempt to fix their mistake comes with an even greater cost.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR “CHILD” BELOW
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: With their young son running out of time, Anne and Greg are willing to sacrifice everything for one last chance to save him. But after crossing an unforgivable moral line, they find themselves trapped in a nightmare where every choice demands an even greater price.
Rather than treating horror as an excuse for spectacle, Neshvad uses the genre to explore desperation, grief and the lengths parents might go when the person they love most is in danger. The result appears to be something closer to psychological and moral horror, where the question isn’t simply whether Anne and Greg can survive, but whether they can live with what they have done.
Festival reactions suggest the film isn’t pulling any punches.
Filmhounds Magazine awarded CHILD four stars, praising the way Neshvad explores “grief, love, and desperation” while describing the film as a “twisty, unpredictable, fantastical horror.” Warped Perspective similarly praised its character driven approach, noting that “CHILD works effectively on its own terms, keeping a very humane, character-focused approach throughout its bizarre literal and metaphorical journey.”
That combination of humanity and horror is what has us interested.
There is something particularly unsettling about a horror story where the monsters may not be the most frightening thing in the room. When parents are pushed into making an impossible choice, morality can become a luxury, and CHILD appears determined to see just how far Anne and Greg are willing to go before the price becomes too high.
The film stars César Award winner Malik Zidi (Oxygen), Brigitte Urhausen (Fils), Lydia Indjova (Sunny Beach), Anne Klein (The Roaming) and Dmytro Yaroshenko (L’été de Jahia).
CHILD arrives in UK cinemas October 2.
