Sam Lerner, Camille Hyde and Nikola Djuricko are set to lead the cast of a darkly comedic thriller feature.
Writer-director Josh Monkarsh’s film Jacob and the Wolf recently wrapped production after shooting in Los Angeles, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In addition to Lerner (The Goldbergs), Hyde (All American: Homecoming) and Djuricko (Stranger Things), the cast includes Richard Kind (Only Murders in the Building), Bronson Pinchot (The Residence), Oliver Cooper (Project X), Louis Lombardi (24), Pete Gardner (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Timothy Hornor (The Residence) and Chris Webster (Reacher).
Jacob and the Wolf centers on a young couple who inherit a seemingly ideal home but soon learn of its dark and Nazi-affiliated past, leading to deadly consequences as their beliefs are questioned. The movie is currently in postproduction and eyeing a 2027 festival run.
Monkarsh helmed the indie film from his own script, and he produces for Traffic City Productions. Joshua Fruehling also serves as producer, with Mike Hatton executive producing and Anna Drubich composing the music.
“I wanted to tell the story of Jacob and the Wolf through a combination of humor and drama — drawing inspiration from films like The Producers, on the one hand, and Inglourious Basterds on the other — the challenge of intentionally fusing genres was a part of what made this story worth telling,” Monkarsh says in a statement. “Once Sam Lerner came onboard, the project really began to take shape, and later through conversations with Bronson Pinchot, Camille Hyde, Nikola Djuricko and Richard Kind, it came to life.”
The director notes that it was important to himself and the crew to shoot in his native L.A., with the project having filmed at the Pasadena Museum of History as its primary location and also in Malibu in the aftermath of the fires. Monkarsh adds, “My hope with this film is that audiences laugh a little, cry a little and, most importantly, walk away having genuinely connected with the story — and maybe learn a little bit more about themselves along the way.”
