Michael Sheasby and Cato Ayyar in Two Ugly People.

Two strangers meet by chance in a highway-side motel, but as their stay goes on we begin to question if their meeting was by chance at all.

Michael Sheasby (The Nightingale, Hacksaw Ridge) and newcomer Cato Ayyar (Sirens) star as the strangers attempting to live within a fantasy in this mystery laden romantic drama, written and directed by Peter Skinner. Two Ugly People will mark the third collaboration between Skinner and Sheasby, including, winner of Best Short Film Award at the 2021 St Kilda Film Festival, Lost Boy and Staring Contest.

Shooting across regional NSW and Sydney, the film also stars Ben Oxenbould (Heartbreak High, The Kettering Incident), Di Adams (The Twelve, June Again) and Chaydon Jay (Elvis).

“Two Ugly People is a modern addition to the doomed romance canon, exploring desire and identity in a new way. I’ve always been fascinated by the different pieces of ourselves we share with the world, and parts we keep in the shadows. What we keep shadowed reveals the closest version of our truest selves, and these are the versions of our characters we uncover,” says Peter Skinner.

The film is the debut feature from Seymour Pictures, a production company dedicated to fostering brave new voices in Australian cinema, founded by actor and producer, Julia Gardell, and writer/directors, Orla Doyle and Peter Skinner.

For their first feature film, Seymour Pictures is teaming up with producer Dinusha Ratnaweera (The Pretend One), cinematographer Adric Watson (All These Creatures) and production designer Laura Anna Lucas (Hector Malot: The Last Day Of The Year), with casting by Danny Long Casting and post production via Xenon Post.