THE ACTIVATED MAN Screens Worldwide On Festival Circuit — by Dr. Laura Wilhelm, LauraWil Intercultural
Grief is a complex human emotion. The pain of losing those we love can seem to drive us mad. But ruminating on our own mortality can both help us cope with our personal loss and put us in touch with higher purposes.
These premises lie at the heart of Hungarian American director Nicholas Gyeney’s supernatural thriller The Activated Man. Jamie Costas stars as a man who loses his beloved dog to cancer and starts to see visions both of the dog and more sinister figures such as The Fedora Man played by longtime Gyeney collaborator Scott Brown.
”Activation” is the film’s central concept as Costas’ Ors Gabriel comes to accept the validity of these visions and broaden his existential outlook. A disturbing string of murder-suicides in the same part of LA hints that the problems are not all his own.
Psychics and the police weigh in at length on the situation. Ors decides that mental telepathy may be causing the murders, spurring him to battle The Fedora Man and become what he was meant to be.
Horror stories rarely end well, but this one does. There is no need to spoil the pleasant surprise that is written into a book and widely told.
Intense visual and sound effects keep The Activated Man from being more than a brain teaser. Stellar cast members such as Sean Young, the replicant from Blade Runner, ground the story in distinguished cinematic tradition. And The Fedora Man fully deserves his own Halloween costume!
The Activated Man‘s interesting mix of crime and horror elements should please fans of Batman and Dexter. The saving power of love adds a lighter and brighter note to a very dark story.
The Activated Man was screened on September 20th as an official selection for the inaugural year of the Tony Curtis International Film Festival in Mátészalka, Hungary, Curtis’ ancestral home. Gyeney was in attendance, along with some family members from the area, and took home the coveted Paramount Premium Award, presented by the Hungarian Hollywood Council. After Hungary, The Activated Man will screen at Glendale International Film Festival, Hollywood Horrorfest, Atlanta Horror Film Festival, Sleepy Hollow International Film Festival, Twin Cities Film Fest, Birmingham Horror Film Festival, and the Menton Fantastic Film Festival in Southern France.
The Activated Man, which first debuted at Dances With Films NYC on December 3rd, 2023, has garnered more than 25 festival awards, including many for best picture, best director, and best ensemble cast. The film is executive produced by Gyeney’s film company Mirror Images Ltd. and produced by Gyeney and Kelsey Aho.
Photos: Mirror Images Ltd.
