‘Don’t Look’: ‘Furiosa’ Star Alyla Browne Reunites With ‘Sting’ Director for Outback Horror

Alyla Browne, the 15-year-old lead of “Furiosa,” will star in “Don’t Look,” an outback horror film from “Sting” director Kiah Roache-Turner that Cornerstone is selling at the American Film Market. Roache-Turner has promised scenes that “are going to traumatise people very deeply.”

The project was previously titled “From Below” and was meant to be the directorial debut of screenwriter Sean Loch. Roache-Turner, currently in post-production on the WWI action-horror film “Lady Death,” took over directing duties because of scheduling issues.

So what’s the film actually about? Set in the Australian outback, “Don’t Look” follows 15-year-old Riley (Browne), who is travelling across the desert with her father. At an isolated crossing they find two seemingly abandoned cars. An invisible force drags her father away, and Riley must fight a creature that is only visible to its next victim — which is what the producers mean by a “fresh take” on road movie horror, where the “true source of fear remains elusive and unseen.”

How did Roache-Turner get involved?

Loch’s screenplay made The Black List, where it trended under “Top Horror Scripts” for six weeks. The film was developed with Joel Anderson, the filmmaker behind “Late Night with the Devil” and “Lake Mungo.”

“Quite simply that it was one of the best scripts I’ve ever read,” Roache-Turner told Variety when asked what drew him in. “I was intrigued at first by the premise and the idea of a single-location, desert-set creature feature. When Sean approached me with the idea of directing it my tongue nearly got whiplash I said yes so fast.”

Blake Northfield (“Lady Death,” “Beast of War”) and Sam Price (“Rear View Mirror,” “Leech”) produce.

What does the ‘fresh take’ mean?

Roache-Turner is a self-declared fan of the genre, citing “Wolf Creek,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Hitcher” and “Jeepers Creepers” as touchstones. But he argues “Don’t Look” separates itself through craft, not just creature design.

“What I found refreshing about ‘Don’t Look’ was the layered and fertile character work; how the emotional setups were handled with such precision and how they all paid off so cleverly in the final act,” he said. “It also helps that the central creature feels truly original, terrifying and disturbing in a way that I’ve never seen portrayed in a monster movie before.”

The director has already battled zombies, giant spiders, sharks and the monsters of “Lady Death.” This one, he says, is different — and he’s overhauling his approach for it.

“Well, I don’t want to give the game away but we’re up against a monster that I’ve never really seen before onscreen,” he said. “It’s such weird creature and so beautifully and horrifically creepy that I’ve decided to change my entire visual style just to accommodate Sean’s insanely original narrative.”

Why the Browne reunion matters

Browne starred in Roache-Turner’s spider horror “Sting,” and her credits now include “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” “Nine Perfect Strangers” and the title role in George Miller’s “Furiosa.” She was 12 when “Sting” began filming; she turned 17 midway through their last collaboration, a family film about endurance riding called “Chiquita.”

The director says he has stayed in touch and is racing the clock.

“I am extremely excited to be working with Alyla again! We’ve certainly kept in touch. Every time I see her on a new movie poster it makes me happy,” he said. “She’s going to be a massive star one day so I want to make as many films with her as I can before she gets too famous and Spielberg snaps her up.”

Even at 12, he said, she ranked among the most naturally talented and professional actors he had worked with. Her role in “Don’t Look,” he added, is “a lot darker and deeper than anything we’ve done before.”

Who else is in the cast?

Joining Browne are:

• George Pullar (“Evil Dead Burn”)
• Masha Basman (“Bay of Fires”)
• Stephen Peacocke (“Me Before You”)

What happens next?

With Cornerstone shopping the title at AFM and Roache-Turner finishing “Lady Death,” “Don’t Look” is positioned as a market bet on a rising star, a Black List-honored script and a director willing to rebuild his visual style around one creature. If the trauma he promises lands with buyers, Browne’s ascent — and the director’s bet on making films with her “before Spielberg snaps her up” — could accelerate fast.