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Penny Lane Is Dead
2025

Penny Lane Is Dead

World Premiere.

A sweltering beach house party in 1986 turns savage when a spiked cupcake, a jealous cousin, and a gang of violent men crash the scene. Penny Lane is Dead is a punk-fuelled, blood-soaked survival thriller laced with dark comedy and gendered rage.

Director

Mia’Kate Russell

Runtime

90 Minutes

Country

Australia

Classification

Unclassified 18+

Set during the sweltering Australian summer of 1986, Penny Lane is Dead is the ferocious debut feature from writer-director Mia’Kate Russell. Penny Lane (Bailey Spalding) and her best friends Toni (Tahlee Fereday) and Amy (Alexandra Jensen) are celebrating Penny’s university acceptance with a debauched ‘no dick event’ at a remote beach house. But the night spirals into chaos when Penny’s volatile cousin Kat (Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn) arrives uninvited, spiked cupcake in hand and a cruel agenda in tow. Things turn deadly with the arrival of Kat’s seedy boyfriend Angus (Ben O’Toole) and his crew - Rodowsky (Fletcher Humphrys) and the menacing Merrick (Steve Le Marquand).

What begins as a night of celebration unravels into a brutal fight for survival. Fuelled by punk-rock energy and pitch-black humour, Penny Lane is Dead tears into internalised misogyny, toxic masculinity and the gendered violence simmering beneath Australia’s sunburnt surface. With breakout performances and razor-sharp direction, Mia’Kate Russell delivers a bold, blood-soaked genre piece that blends savage satire with cult-cinema attitude - an electrifying new voice in Australian film.
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Film Credits

Director

Mia’Kate Russell

Year

2025

Country

Australia

Language

English

Type

Feature & Fiction

Program Strand

AFF Investment Fund & World Cinema

Producer

Julie RyanAri HarrisonAndre Lima & Carly Maple

Writer

Mia’Kate Russell

Cinematographer

Liam Gilmour

Editor

Dan Lee

Cast

Sophia Wright-MendelsohnTahlee FeredayAlexandra JensenBailey SpaldingSteve Le MarquandFletcher Humphrys & Ben O'Toole

Music

Chiara Costanza

Film Source

Julie Ryan & Umbrella Entertainment

Genre

HorrorLGBTQIA+Satire & Thriller

Penny Lane is Dead Pink Carpet

Pink carpet – from 6pm
Screening – 6:30pm

When: Saturday 18 October
Where: The Piccadilly

Purchase Tickets

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