by Alex Billington
May 8, 2026
Source: YouTube
“You’re a tough cookie, aren’t ya?” Umbrella Entertainment in Australia has revealed the first official trailer for an indie horror film called Penny Lane Is Dead, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Mia’Kate Russell, a make-up artist and horror filmmaker of many other shorts. It premiered at the 2025 Adelaide Film Festival and opens in Australian theaters this July (right in the middle of their winter). This Adelaide Ozploitation horror movie was filmed in South Australia and is set back in the year 1986 during a sweltering hot summer. 17-year-old Penny is celebrating high school graduation with friends while at her family’s beach house, but the night goes awry when Penny’s troubled cousin Kat decides to crash the party. “Mia’Kate infuses Penny Lane Is Dead with her unmistakable storytelling style, crafting a film that crackles with razor-sharp tension, raw emotion & unflinching violence. This is a bold, relentless ride that will leave audiences breathless.” This stars Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, Tahlee Fereday, Alexandra Jensen, Ben O’Toole, Bailey Spalding, Steve Le Marquand, & Fletcher Humphrys. Looks wild and bloody.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Mia’Kate Russell’s horror Penny Lane Is Dead, from YouTube:
Set during a scorching Australian summer back in 1986, the film follows three teenage best friends whose celebratory night at a beach house spirals into a blood-soaked battle for survival after a prank takes a deadly turn. Penny Lane Is Dead is written and directed by the Australian make-up artist / filmmaker Mia Kate Russell, making her first feature film after many other short films before, plus the “Maggie May” episode of the Beyond the Dark anthology series. Produced by Ari Harrison, Julie Ryan, Andre Lima. This first premiered at the 2025 Adelaide Film Festival last year. Umbrella Ent. debuts Russell’s Penny Lane Is Dead film in Australian cinemas starting on July 23rd, 2026 in winter there. No US release date is set yet.
