Firstborn Released On DVD And VOD
Artsploitation Films has picked up US distribution rights to the Latvian revenge thriller Firstborn and, as of today, released the film on DVD and VOD. In basic terms, the plot is one of those Charles Atlas ads from old comic books, only with murder added.
Francis is a weak, wimpy architect trapped in an unhappy marriage. After the couple is robbed by a crook on a motorcycle, Francis’ wife treats him even more horribly, insisting he should have stood up to the man. Francis decides, “maybe it’s time I did.” So he tracks down the biker and…one day later, the biker is dead. No one knows it was an accident, but who needs to? Francis’ wife is thrilled.
A couple months of frantic sex later, the wife is pregnant. And then trouble arrives: someone knows Francis was “involved” in the disappearance of the biker and is threatening to tell the police unless Francis meets his demands. To save his repaired marriage, and possibly his life, Francis may have to confront somebody for real.
The website Screen Anarchy says “A mean, menacing undercurrent slithers through Firstborn. It’s not easily dismissed…a rather shattering drama, wrapped in the clothing of a very tense, slow-boiling thriller.” Firstborn is out now on DVD and VOD platforms.
An intense yet coolly observed psychological thriller from Latvian director Aik Karapetian (The Man in the Orange Jacket). Francis is a meek middle-aged architect trapped in an unhappy with his younger wife Katrina. After a party, the childless couple are robbed by a thuggish young motorcyclist. Disappointed by her husband’s feeble reaction to the attacker, their relationship further deteriorates. The bespectacled Francis, his long dormant masculinity now ignited, seeks and finally confronts the man, an encounter which ends in the accidental death of the thief. The violent outcome seems to bring the two together and the wife soon becomes pregnant. But when a menacing blackmailer enters the picture, Francis now must fight for his very manhood. A mesmerizing and unnerving tale.