If you’re into dark and devastating post-apocalyptic thrillers, The Survivalist looks like a movie you’ll likely want to check out.

The movie comes from writer and director Stephen Fingleton, and stars Martin McCann as a man who lives alone in a small shack in the forests of Northern Ireland after the world as we know it today ceased to exist. The seclusion, lack of security, and inability to trust anyone in these times has clearly taken a toll on the man psychologically, but when a woman and her daughter (Olwen Fouéré and Mia Goth) show up one day, things change for the man that could ultimately threaten the small refuge he’s built over the years.

A new trailer for The Survivalist was released recently. You can read more about the movie and watch the trailer below, along with a short prequel film titled Magpie.

The prequel short was actually made as kind of a proof of concept project in order to secure funding for the feature film. As Fingleton explained on his website:

As part of the funding process from the BFI for getting support for THE SURVIVALIST, I was asked to make a “˜promo/trailer’ for the film. What I decided to do with my producers at The Fyzz was make a short prequel set in the world of the film. MAGPIE was the result.

It’s a great taster for the world we are going to create with THE SURVIVALIST. It stars the inimitable Martin McCann, Mia Goth and Olivia Williams. MAGPIE was produced by Wayne Marc Godfrefy and Robert Jones through their company The Fyzz Facility.

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In a kill-or-be-killed world where starvation is rife and strangers are always dangerous, The Survivalist lives off the grid, and by his wits. When a starving woman and her teenage daughter discover his forest refuge, his loneliness drives him to overcome his suspicion and strike a bargain with them in return for bed and board. But as desire becomes stronger than necessity, the exchange becomes an uneasy, ongoing arrangement which threatens not only his carefully constructed world but also his life.

THE SURVIVALIST is a captivating post-apocalyptic thriller from writer/director Stephen Fingleton hailed by Indiewire as “Mad Max in the countryside”, as “tense and gripping from start to finish” by Esquire” and as “Masterful” by Time Out New York, in its 5 star review. The film boasts stellar performances from Martin McCann (’71, Shadow Dancer, X+Y), Mia Goth (Nymphomaniac Part II, A Cure For Wellness,) and Olwen Fouéré (This Must be the Place) and is released in UK/Ireland cinemas & on demand 12 February.

A man lives in a forest, surviving through murder and deceit. When he finds himself drawn to two strangers, his strict code of self-preservation is put to the test. Starring Martin McCann, Olivia Williams and Mia Goth.

MAGPIE is a prequel to THE SURVIVALIST, a feature film about the desperate measures people will take to survive in times of collapse.

[Source: Bulldog Film Distribution via /Film]