Blue Finch Films has picked up worldwide sales rights to Kick On, an action-horror film set for its world premiere in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival, according to Variety.

The deal covers all territories except Australia and New Zealand, where Umbrella Entertainment has separately acquired rights. Blue Finch will launch sales at TIFF's newly established industry market — a dedicated venue for buyers and sellers doing business during the festival. The 51st edition of TIFF runs September 10–20, 2026.

Kick On follows four friends whose night out spirals into a drug-fuelled den run by a mobster's volatile son, dragging them into a cycle of paranoia, violence and betrayal. Phil Klimek wrote the screenplay. Nick Kozakis directs, bringing a background in genre cinema: his previous film Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism won an award at the Sitges Film Festival, the long-running genre showcase in Catalonia.

The cast includes Markella Kavenagh, Nikolai Nikolaeff, Ras-Samuel and Jacek Koman. Kavenagh is known to fantasy audiences from her role in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Koman's screen credits stretch from The Great Gatsby to Child's Play.

Midnight Madness is TIFF's late-night genre programme, curated by lead programmer Peter Kuplowsky, who has shaped the section into a launchpad for horror, action and cult films. A Midnight Madness slot puts a film in front of one of the festival's most vocal audiences — genre fans who react loudly, and often shape early word-of-mouth.

The film is the first feature from Fableist Films, an independent banner launched by AACTA-winning producer Stephanie Troost alongside Simon Bell. For an indie producer's debut to land a Midnight Madness premiere and secure international sales before the festival opens signals that the project caught buyers' attention early. Blue Finch, a London-based sales agent specialising in genre titles, will be looking to close territory deals across North America, Europe and Asia once the film screens.

For a first feature, the packaging is strong: a Sitges-award-winning director, a cast with international profiles, and a premise that fits neatly into the elevated-horror lane that has driven theatrical business for distributors like A24, Neon and IFC. Whether Kick On delivers on that promise will become clear when it premieres in Toronto in September.