Indie thriller shot in Tri-Cities to be released later this year

An indie thriller shot in the Tri-Cities will be released in theaters later this year.

Viewers also will be able to find If There’s a Hell Below on digital platforms.

MPI Media Group has acquired the North American distribution rights.

“It’s really exciting to make a low-budget film, with actors who are not yet especially well-known, and get the opportunity to reach a larger audience,” said Nathan Williams, the director.

“We’re excited for our work to be seen, and for the natural beauty of the Tri-Cities area to be seen around the country,” he said.

Williams isn’t yet sure which U.S. cities will see the theatrical release in the fall, and the digital platforms are yet to be announced.

The film debuted in January at the Slamdance Film Festival in Utah, and drew strong reviews.

The Hollywood Reporter called it “a spare, subdued thriller” and Twitch Film described it as “a meticulously crafted tale of government secrets and whistleblowers in a post Edward Snowden world.”

Co-written by the Portland-based Williams and his brother Matthew, the film centers on a meeting between an ambitious journalist and a government whistleblower.

One doesn’t make it out alive.

Starring Conner Marx and Carol Roscoe, If There’s a Hell Below was shot largely in the hills south of Kennewick.

The cast and crew spent about two weeks on location in summer 2014 and came back for a few more days about a month later.

The landscape plays a central role, Nathan Williams said. It has definition — it’s not all flat — but at the same time also lends a feeling of exposure, that the characters aren’t safe from prying eyes.

“The film alternates between claustrophobia in the car and the feeling that you can be seen for miles and miles,” Williams told the Herald in May, ahead of the film’s screening at the Seattle International Film Festival.

He’s said he hopes to eventually screen the film in the Tri-Cities.

For more information about If There’s a Hell Below, go to www.hell-below.com.

This story was originally published June 12, 2016 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Indie thriller shot in Tri-Cities to be released later this year."