North of North stars reunite for supernatural thriller In the Heart of the South
The co-stars of the Inuit-led comedy North of North have reunited for a very different story, a supernatural thriller about an artist stalked by her own creation.
In the Heart of the South centres on Yura Ivalu, a young Inuk artist played by Anna Lambe, and her estranged childhood friend Sesi, played by Zorga Qaunaq, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Both actors star in North of North, the Netflix and CBC comedy which is headed to a second season. The tone could not be more different.
The film is the second feature from writer-director Nyla Innuksuk, who was born in Iqaluit. Her first feature was Slash/Back. She co-wrote the new script with Ryan Cavan and spoke to The Hollywood Reporter from the Vancouver Film Festival about the project.
Festival notes describe a tight, eerie set-up. The Vancouver festival calls it a propulsive, psychological meta-thriller about an Inuk multimedia writer possessed by her own narrative, and lists a runtime of 95 minutes, according to VIFF. Toronto's festival guide pitches it in plainer terms as Single White Female set in Toronto with an Inuk protagonist and supernatural elements, a reference to the 1990s thriller about an obsessive housemate, according to TIFF.
The casting was first reported exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter in August 2025. That report said Lambe and Qaunaq would topline the thriller after breaking through together in comedy.
The film is travelling a full autumn festival route. It was booked for its world premiere in the Platform programme at Toronto 2026, a juried competition section for bold new voices, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It then screened on Sunday at the Vancouver Film Festival in the Northern Lights series, which spotlights northern stories. Calgary gave it an Alberta Premiere with a screening on September 30 at 6:15 PM, with English listed as the language, according to the Calgary International Film Festival.
What makes this stand out is the switch for its leads. For fans, this means seeing a comedy partnership tested in a colder register, with friendship turned into friction.
Vancouver provides a large stage for that test. Its 45th edition runs October 1 to 11 and includes more than 160 films and 85 shorts, alongside VIFF Live performances, VIFF Talks and special events.
