''Sew Torn'' is a 2024

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written, directed and edited by

Freddy Macdonald Freddy Macdonald (born October 12, 2000) is a US-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film editor, editor.Freddy Macdonald' In: vimeo.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024. He is the youngest directing fellow ever accepted to the American Film Ins ...

. In the US-Swiss co-production, which is based on a short film of the same name, Eve Connolly plays a seamstress on the verge of bankruptcy. The film tells the story of how she comes upon a drug deal gone bad and how her choices at the scene of the crime lead to drastically different outcomes along the way. ''Sew Torn'' premiered at the

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

and headlined

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

on the Piazza Grande in 2024, receiving widespread critical acclaim.Georg Szalai:
Locarno Fest Lineup Includes Hong Sang-soo, Paz Vega Films, Honors for Mélanie Laurent, Guillaume Canet
' In: hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved May 19, 2025.Tim Molloy:
How Sew Torn Director Freddy MacDonald Made His Feature Debut at 24 — With Advice From Joel Coen
' In: moviemaker.com. Retrieved June 2, 2025.

Plot

Barbara Duggen (Eve Connolly) is a seamstress struggling to keep her fabric shop alive. After a botched sewing appointment sets her on a quest to replace her client's lost button, she unexpectedly stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad. Faced with two downed motorcyclists, guns, and a briefcase - Duggen is completely torn. She is forced to pick between three choices: commit the perfect crime, call the police, or drive away. The narrative presents the repercussions of all three decisions, and the deadly confrontations that result from each as she gets entangled with the case's owner. Using thread to free herself, Duggen stops at nothing to save her store.Damon Wise:
'Sew Torn' Review: Freddy Macdonald’s Strange, Striking Neo-Noir Is A Great Discovery.
' In: deadline.com. Retrieved March 13, 2024.Kristy Puchko:
'Sew Torn' review: 'Pushing Daisies' meets 'Run Lola Run'
' In: mashable.com. Retrieved March 12, 2024.

Cast

* Eve Connolly as Barbara *

Calum Worthy Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, and co-founder of AI education company 2wai. As an actor he is known for his roles as Dez Wade on the Disney Channel series ''Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the N ...

as Joshua * John Lynch as Hudson *

K. Callan Katherine Elizabeth Callan (née Borman; born January 9, 1936) is an American actress and writer, known for playing Clark Kent's mother Martha in the ABC television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. She has most recently ...

as Ms. Engel *

Ron Cook Ronald G. Cook (born 1 December 1948) is an English actor. He has been active in film, television and theatre since the 1970s. Early life Cook was born in 1948 in South Shields, County Durham, the son of a school cook and a car worker. Whe ...

as Oskar * Thomas Douglas as Beck *

Caroline Goodall Caroline Goodall Pecorini (born 13 November 1959) is an English–Australian actress, screenwriter and producer. Awards and nominations include Best Actress nominations AFI Awards for her roles in the 1989 miniseries '' Cassidy'' and the 199 ...

as Grace * Werner Biermeier as Melvin * Veronika Herren-Wenger as Rosie * Petra Wright as Mom / Young Barbara

Production

Development

The film was directed and edited by Freddy Macdonald, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his father Fred Macdonald.Tracy Palmer:
SXSW 2024 Sew Torn Interview – Director Freddy Macdonald Explains His Incredible Vision, His Amazing Stars, And That Mettler Thread.
' In: signalhorizon.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024. ''Sew Torn'' is the first full-length

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

by the director and is based on his 2019 six-minute

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

of the same name. The film was part of his successful admission to the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

and made Macdonald the youngest Directing Fellow ever accepted into the Conservatory.
Freddy Macdonald.
' In: swissfilms.ch. Retrieved April 4, 2024. With his AFI thesis film, ''Shedding Angels'', Macdonald went on to win a Student Academy Award in the year 2022. The short film was executive produced by

Peter Spears Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing ''Nomadland'' (2020), and for producing ...

, acquired by

Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...

and qualified for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

after a nationwide theatrical release in the USA. The short film was watched by

Joel Coen Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) is an American filmmaker. Working alongside his brother Ethan, the duo have directed, written, edited and produced many feature films, the most acclaimed of which include '' Blood Simple'' (1984), '' ...

, who met with Macdonald and advised turning the short into an independent feature. Macdonald's father Fred, who produced all of Freddy's short films, then looked into ways to raise the funds independently. Barry Navidi, producer of

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino ( ; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, duri ...

's ''

Wilde Salomé ''Wilde Salomé'' is a 2011 American docudrama written, directed by and starring Al Pacino. An exploration of Oscar Wilde's 1891 play '' Salomé'', the film premiered at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. At the festival, Pacino was pre ...

'' and

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

's ''

Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness ''Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness'' () is a 2024 biographical drama film based on the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. It is directed by Johnny Depp from a screenplay by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, which is based on the play ' ...

'' has collaborated with Macdonald on previous projects and came on as producer with his company Barry Navidi Productions. Subsequently, filmmakers Diamantis Zavitsanos and Socratis Zavitsanos helped raise a significant amount of funds as producers. The twin brothers had once competed against Macdonald at

Heartland International Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF) is a high academy qualifying film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States ...

in the year 2017, went on to win the festival with their short film, '' Two of Five Million'', and have since become collaborators.

Casting

Eve Connolly, known from her roles in the film ''

The Other Lamb ''The Other Lamb'' is a 2019 horror film directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and written by C.S. McMullen. It stars Raffey Cassidy, Michiel Huisman and Denise Gough. Plot summary Selah is a teenage girl who is living in a remote forest compoun ...

'', and the television series '' Into the Badlands'', plays the leading role of seamstress Barbara Duggen. Sharon Howard-Field and Nathan Wiley were responsible for casting.

Filming and post-production

Filming took place in the fall of 2022 in the Tamina Valley and

Bad Ragaz Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy o ...

in the Swiss region of Sarganserland-Werdenberg.Lorena Tino:
Filmdreh im Taminatal.
' In: suedostschweiz.ch. Retrieved November 23, 2022.Heidi Troisio:
The Sarganserland-Werdenberg region is the setting for the Hollywood film "Sew Torn"
' In: sarganserland-werdenberg.ch. Retrieved October 1, 2022. The filming for Macdonald's short film also took place there. Swiss cinematographer Sebastian Klinger was already familiar with the region from previous projects. He collaborated with Macdonald on multiple films already and is also one of the film's

producers Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes t ...

. The Swiss

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

, ORISONO, came onto the project as co-producer, providing local know-how and production services. Having co-produced the Spanish feature '' Color of Heaven'' by Joan-Marc Zapata, which premiered at

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

, and having acted as local production partner for

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' Contigo Capitán'', ORISONO was familiar with the circumstances of film production in Switzerland. Also involved in the post-production of ''Sew Torn'', ORISONO's co-founders Alexander Stratigenas and Timothy Ross provided one of the finest

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

audio mixing Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more audio channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aest ...

studios of Switzerland for the film along with their business partner Soundville Media Studios.

Release

''Sew Torn'' had its world premiere at the

(SXSW) on March 11, 2024, in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. It went on to headline

on the Piazza Grande, and was an official selection at numerous festivals including

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

and

Camerimage The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage () is a festival that celebrates and awards cinematography and cinematographers. The festival is held in Toruń, Poland, at the end of November every year. It spans the cou ...

.
Sew Torn
' In: sitgesfilmfestival.com. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
Sew Torn
' In: camerimage.pl. Retrieved July 15, 2025. The feature film was acquired for North American distribution by

Vertigo Releasing Vertigo Films is a British independent TV and Film production company founded in 2002 by Allan Niblo and James Richardson and joined a few years later by current CEO and partner, Jane Moore. The company has produced and distributed over 50 fe ...

and

Sunrise Films Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the Su ...

, and had a theatrical release in May 2025. Zac Ntim:
SXSW & Locarno Title ‘Sew Torn’ Lands North American Distribution Deal
' In: deadline.com. Retrieved June 14, 2025.

Reception

''Sew Torn'' received widespread critical acclaim and was positively reviewed and featured in

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a Britis ...

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

Mashable Mashable is a Online newspaper, news website, digital media platform and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2004. Early iterations o ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, and

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...

, among others.Brian Davids:
Meet Freddy Macdonald, the 23-Year-Old ‘Sew Torn’ Filmmaker Who Dazzled SXSW
' In: The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 14, 2024.Damon Wise:
‘Sew Torn’ Review: Freddy Macdonald’s Strange, Striking Neo-Noir Is A Great Discovery – SXSW
' In: deadline.com. Retrieved August 20, 2024.Guy Lodge:
Sew Torn Review: A Stitch in Time Saves None in This Loopy Crime Comedy
' In: variety.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.Kristy Puchko:
'Sew Torn' review: 'Pushing Daisies' meets 'Run Lola Run'
' In: mashable.com. Retrieved April 17, 2024.Sheila O'Malley:
Sew Torn Review
' In: rogerebert.com. Retrieved July 11, 2025.Chase Hutchinson:
'Sew Torn' Review: This Tangled, Twisty Thriller Is a Dark Delight , SXSW 2024
' In: collider.com. Retrieved March 22, 2024. The Hollywood Reporter described Macdonald as a "wunderkind" and "the filmmaker who dazzled SXSW", Collider called him "one of the most exciting new directors out there", and Variety stated he "may well be the next big thing."Perri Nemiroff:
This 23-Year-Old Is One of the Most Exciting New Directors Out There
' In: collider.com. Retrieved April 12, 2025. In July 2025, ''Sew Torn'' was awarded Certified Fresh status on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, with a 95% rating.
Sew Torn
' In: rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025.

Accolades

2024 * Nomination for the Kickstarter NextGen Award (Freddy Macdonald)

2024 * Nomination for the Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award (Freddy Macdonald)

Sitges Film Festival SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia () is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. It specializes in fantasy film, fantasy, Horror film, horror and Cult film, cult films. Established in 1968, the festiva ...

2024 * Nomination for the New Visions Award (Freddy Macdonald)

2024 * Nomination for Best Cinematography in Contemporary World Cinema (Sebastian Klinger)

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt23157384 2020s English-language films 2024 films Films shot in Switzerland 2024 directorial debut films