Mark H. Rapaport’s new thriller “Godhead” premiered at Montreal’s Fantasia Festival, where it was warmly received for its escalating tension and unsettling chamber-drama approach. The black-and-white film follows a rural Catholic priest visited by two strange twins who claim to be fulfilling a prophecy, bringing religious fervour, concealed motives and a gun into an increasingly threatening situation.

Rapaport said the film uses a Hitchcockian framework to examine manipulation and hypocrisy among authority figures, from religious leaders to family members and employers. Starring Al Warren, Sarah Coffey, Kimball Farley and Luke Speakman, it is Rapaport’s second feature to premiere at Fantasia after his 2023 debut “Hippo”; the director said he aimed to prioritise the characters’ emotional core while withholding easy answers.