Neil LaBute premieres shoestring thriller Murderous at Oldenburg
Neil LaBute's latest feature is Murderous, a dark comedy thriller with echoes of early Hitchcock that had its world premiere at the Oldenburg Film Festival. A world premiere means the first public screening before an audience. LaBute and lead actor Gia Crovatin, who are partners in real life, spoke about the film with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the German event, where LaBute was also due to collect a lifetime achievement honour for his body of work.
Crovatin plays Marion, an up-and-coming screenwriter working away from the city. An ex-boyfriend turns up uninvited and accuses her of stealing his idea, leaving open the question of whether he is a jilted former partner or something more threatening. The ex is played by Thomas Sadoski, with Jordan Baker co-starring to complete a tight three-person ensemble.
It is a small production by design. The film was shot on a shoestring budget at a single location in the Hudson Valley. The shoot was split into two one-week blocks. That lean setup keeps costs low and puts the focus on performance in a confined space.
The story began with a building. A friend who works as a photographer for The New York Times showed LaBute and Crovatin an 18th-century mill converted into a house in Salt Point, New York. The couple said the space suggested a film built around one place and few characters. From there, LaBute wrote Marion's story around isolation, ambition and a knock at the door.
The Hollywood Reporter shared an exclusive first clip from the film on 14 September 2026. The clip introduces Marion's unwanted reunion with her ex. It sets up the central dispute over authorship without giving away where the story turns.
Festival play continues in the United States. The Big Eddy Film Festival has listed Murderous for Saturday, 26 September at 7:30pm. Director LaBute and Crovatin are scheduled to take part in a question-and-answer session after the screening, according to the festival's post. Such sessions let audiences ask the makers directly about choices on story and production.
What makes this stand out is the method. Three actors, one house and two weeks of filming is a deliberately tight frame. For fans, this means the suspense has little room to hide.
