Never After Dark – SLASH Filmfestival

Guiding restless souls through the veil between here and the hereafter is all in a day’s work for medium Airi. One assignment takes her to a remote house in the woods, whose occupant is plagued by a supernatural troublemaker. Debonair as ever, she gets down to business—but quickly discovers that this haunting may be a little above her pay grade. Dave Boyle weaves J-horror, gothic, and crime-thriller elements into a charmingly chilling spin on the haunted-house trope, earning him the Midnighter Audience Award at Austin’s SXSW Film Festival—not least thanks to his inebriated protagonist dancing her way through the spook house. (Matthias Eckkrammer)

OPENING SHORT FILM
Ceiling King
Mats Udd, SE 2026, 12′
Austrian Premiere

Playing a tape from an old answering machine at her childhood home, a woman hears her younger self and her father’s voice. But as the message ends, a new one suddenly starts.

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Dave Boyle

is a writer, director, and producer who works in both English and Japanese-language film and television. Dave’s critically acclaimed San Francisco-set mystery Man from Reno was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards. He also served as the showrunner and lead director for the Netflix original series House of Ninjas, which debuted in 2024. His previous features as a writer/director include Surrogate Valentine (2011) and Daylight Savings (2012). Both were presented at the SXSW Film & TV Festival, which also hosted the world premiere of Dave’s latest feature film, the supernatural horror thriller Never After Dark.

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Dave Boyle

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