Dark Sky Films takes US rights to Emirati horror The Vile
Dark Sky Films has acquired US distribution rights to The Vile, an Arabic-language psychological horror thriller from Emirati film-maker Majid Al Ansari, as reported by Deadline on 1 October 2026.
Distribution rights means the company will handle the film's release in the United States. US release plans will be announced at a later date. Dark Sky Films is the genre label of Watermelon Pictures co-founders Badie and Hamza Ali.
The deal gives an award-winning festival title a US home. The Vile held its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin in September 2025, according to Deadline. It won Best Horror Feature there. It then played Sitges, BFI London and Busan.
The story centres on Amani, a devoted wife and mother whose life slowly unravels. The film draws on dark myths around polygamy, as described by The National. It runs 97 minutes. It is listed as a UAE-USA production from 2025.
Al Ansari directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Johnnie Alward. The cast includes Bdoor Mohammad, Sarah Taibah, Iman Tarik, Jasem Alkharraz and Samira Al Wahaibi.
The film was produced by Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios. It is the first Arabic-language feature made under that partnership. Producers are Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Derek Dauchy and Rami Yasin, with Mohamed Hefzy and Yasir Al Yasiri as executive producers.
The acquisition was negotiated by Justin DiPietro of MPI Media Group and Jason Ishikawa of Cinetic Media on behalf of the film-makers. DiPietro is executive vice president of MPI Media Group. Dark Sky Films is a wholly owned subsidiary of MPI Media Group and an independent genre production and distribution label founded in 2008.
For fans, this means a clear next step. The Vile is Al Ansari's return to feature directing after Zinzana and his work on the Netflix series Paranormal. A US distributor is now in place, and the calendar is next.
