UNCANNY VALLEY - NOW IN PRODUCTION

A horror-comedy feature film, written, directed, and produced by a 20-year-old. Three years in the making, and now knee-deep in production.

We need our community's support to finish what we started!

DONATION TIERS

$25+ — Name in end credits as "Community Supporter"

$100+ — "Special Thanks" credit

$500+ — Co-Associate Producer

$1,000+ — Associate Producer

$2,500+ — Co-Producer

$5,000+ — Co-Executive Producer

$10,000+ — Executive Producer

THE STORY

In the world of a cancelled 1990s children's TV show - something like "Goosebumps" or "Are You Afraid of the Dark" - the characters inside learn that their lives are scripted for entertainment, and that the one thing that was real is the predator who created their world and wrote himself in.

Uncanny Valley is "The Truman Show" (1998) meets "Heathers" (1989) by way of "Scream" (1996).

Other inspirations: "Carrie" (1976), "Donnie Darko" (2001), and "Poltergeist" (1982).

WHAT IS THE MOVIE GOING TO BE LIKE?

"I grew up on classic horror of the 1970s-1990s and the wild, over-the-top television of the 1990s and early 2000s. That era of television was bright, punchy, experimental, and got away with an astonishing amount of crude, satirical humor. Malcolm in the Middle energy. Uncanny Valley is the story of a group of latchkey kids in a crappy suburb solving mysteries the useless adults can't, like the Scooby gang with worse language."

— Jordan Mirrione, Writer/Director

Uncanny Valley wears all of that on its sleeve. And then it points that nostalgia straight at the ugliest thing the industry that made those shows spent decades hiding.

WHAT IT'S REALLY ABOUT

"This film found its purpose when I watched "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Children's TV" on HBO. I saw a system where dozens of powerful people in Hollywood, execs and talent alike, closed ranks to defend a man who abused a child using the access and trust a set handed him. He was likeable. He charmed the parents. That's how it works.

That's the horror I wanted to make a movie about. Not a monster. Exploitation. The way relationships, workplaces, and entire industries feed on the people inside them, and the way children specifically have been made victims by the adults. The examples are everywhere, and it isn't history. The Epstein files are still mostly sealed, the names still redacted, the pattern of powerful people protecting each other still running exactly as designed."

So in Uncanny Valley, the villain isn't an alien or a ghost. He's MATT FLETCHER, the man who built a children's television show and preyed on the real kids who played its characters. The film reckons, without flinching, with child sexual abuse, with how predators groom the vulnerable and manipulate the adults around them, and with the depression and self-destruction that trail that damage for the rest of a life.

WHY NOW

This film has faced obstacles that would end most productions.

"We were a week from production in 2025 when my mom took her own life. I made the call to delay the film a year. The months after were the hardest of my life. But every performer in this cast read the script, loved it, and stayed on board. They're the reason I got back to work. That's the whole thesis of the movie proving itself in real time.”

— Jordan Mirrione, Writer/Director

Who's Behind This

Uncanny Valley is created by JORDAN MIRRIONE, a 20-year-old filmmaker whose previous films screened to sold-out audiences at the historic Cranford Theater in NJ.

Twenty-two Montclair businesses have backed the project, including MONTCLAIR FILM, who donated a Film Lover's Membership for a silent auction at our comedy show; We sold out a comedy show at Just Jake's in May 2026, headlined by nationally touring comedian and actor KEVIN BARTINI. And the crew is professional and seasoned, a real team making movie magic this summer in our first phase of production.

Read more at www.uncannyvalleyfilm.com!

CAST

Our villain, Matt Fletcher, is played by JOSHUA PANGBORN, seen on HBO Max's The Chair Company and Natasha Lyonne's Poker Face on Peacock. Opposite him as the abusive police chief Robert is KEVIN BARTINI, a recurring face on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and And Just Like That, who was discovered by Jon Stewart and spent years warming up audiences at The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. SAMI KENNETT, playing Linda in Uncanny Valley, brings two national musical theater tours and studio work alongside Wicked and Frozen music director Stephen Oremus. Our young leads, Zoë Reed, Atticus Bravo-Smith, Tristan Picou, and Quinn Mishima, anchor the film as Cassie, Ricky, Elliot, and Nina.

CREW

Behind the camera is a department-head roster with festival and network pedigree. Makeup and hair is led by ALEXA BRANCO, a Peabody Award recipient and Emmy honoree (IATSE Local 798) whose credits include The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Lion King on Broadway, and projects for Netflix and A24. Special effects is headed by EVILISE QUIJANO, a 17-year SFX Makeup veteran who has done beauty looks for Uma Thurman and prosthetics for Sam Smith, with clients including Warner Bros and HBO. Original score and sound design come from MERC SORRILLO, a Harlem-based composer with over 300 published credits and a client roster spanning AMC, Red Bull, and Ubisoft. Production sound is run by FEDERICO PEREZ of Deep Image Audio, an NYC-based sound mixer whose credits include Companion, Manifest, and Fresh Kills. Social and BTS content is produced by Dani Vuono, a regular on SiriusXM's The Sam Roberts Show.

WHAT WE NEED TODAY

We're raising $10,000 to complete Phase 1 of Production. Every dollar goes directly onto the screen.

CAN'T DONATE?

No problem-o! There are three free ways to help this film get made:

1) Follow us on Instagram and TikTok

2) Sign up for our mailing list at www.uncannyvalleyfilm.com.

3) Then share this campaign directly with a friend, coworker, family member, or whoever, with a specific ask: donate $25 to Uncanny Valley.