Kiernan Shipka Leads "Hyena," a Thriller David Lynch Executive Produced

Kiernan Shipka and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai now lead "Hyena," a psychological thriller that David Lynch executive produced. Variety reported the casting on 5 November 2026, and Deadline gave the film a first-quarter 2027 start date the same day.

The story follows Genevieve, played by Shipka, who brings her new boyfriend Alexei, played by Woon-A-Tai, home to meet her family. The family tries hard to welcome him. Those efforts start to fall apart once Alexei uncovers secrets the family has kept buried for years.

Edgar Ramírez and Rosemarie DeWitt also star. Ramírez is a Cesar Award winner and a Golden Globe nominee. Shipka and Woon-A-Tai replace Archie Madekwe and Havana Rose Liu, who had earlier been attached to the film when it was planned for a 2025 shoot. The project was in front of buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival's market that September, according to Deadline.

Scott Coffey directs the film and co-wrote the screenplay with novelist Blair Mastbaum. Coffey has a personal link to Lynch. He played Wilkins in Lynch's "Mulholland Drive," and Lynch became his mentor after that collaboration. Lynch was closely involved in the early development of "Hyena." He died in January 2025, and the film is one of the last projects he signed on to as an executive producer.

Production is slated to begin early next year in Spokane, Washington. David Lancaster and Jeff Elliott will produce.

Sales are handled by Upgrade, with WME Independent now working alongside it. The two companies will show the film to buyers at the American Film Market, the trade event in Los Angeles where distributors buy and sell films and often decide what reaches cinemas and streaming services years later. In plain terms, the market is where the film first meets the companies that could release it.

For Shipka, who plays the lead, and for Coffey, who is directing his own script, the next step is the shoot itself. Until cameras roll in Spokane, the film exists as a cast list, a script and a set of buyer meetings.