The Moogai.

Maslow Entertainment today released the spine-tingling trailer for the highly anticipated First Nations psychological horror film The Moogai, just in time for Friday the 13^th. Starring Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Thor: Love and Thunder) and Meyne Wyatt (We Are Still Here, ABC TV’s Mystery Road), The Moogai will release wide in cinemas in Australia on Halloween (31 October 2024).

The film received its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and its Australian Premiere at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival, where it won the GIO Audience Award for Best Australian Feature, followed by the Melbourne International Film Festival. This week, The Moogai was awarded the prestigious $100,000 Film Prize at CinefestOZ Film Festival in WA.

The film is the directorial feature debut from writer Jon Bell and is based on his acclaimed short film of the same name. A psychological horror that weaves the haunting history of the Stolen Generation with First Nations storytelling, the word Moogai has several meanings for Indigenous Australians, including “boogeyman”.

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Starring Sebbens, Wyatt, Tessa Rose (Top End Wedding), Clarence Ryan (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Toby Leonard Moore (Mank) and Bella Heathcote (Relic, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), The Moogai is produced by Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings of Causeway Films (The Babadook, Talk To Me), and Mitchell Stanley of No Coincidence Media (We Are Still Here).

Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, give birth to their second baby. But what should be a joyous time of their lives becomes sinister when Sarah starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. Fergus, who can’t see it but desperately wants to believe her, grows increasingly worried as she becomes more unbalanced. Is the child-stealing spirit real or is she in fact the biggest threat to the safety of their family?

The Moogai received major production investment from Screen Australia’s First Nations Department in association with Screen NSW through the Made in NSW Fund and Regional Filming Fund, and financed with support from Spectrum Films, Kojo Studios, Anahat Films, Salmira Productions and Head Gear Films. Post, digital and visual effects supported by Screen NSW.

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