Pinprick

Director:

Daniel Young

In Pinprick, a teenage girl’s secret game becomes chillingly real when she hides a criminal in her closet — at first a mischievous pact, then a spiralling take-over of her family life. The English-language thriller, directed by Daniel Young and filmed in Budapest, fuses psychological tension with domestic suspense as the man, growing bored with adolescent thrills, turns his gaze to the girl’s mother and ruins the fragile household equilibrium.

Premiering as the first full English-language production by Skyfilm, Pinprick was shot on 16 mm in Cinemascope and backed by a cross-border Swiss co-producer, with a low-budget of around €500,000. While it didn’t dominate the commercial box office, the film gained notice for its daring style, international cast (including Rachael Blake and Ervin Nagy) and atmospheric narrative — a bold entry in Hungary’s arthouse-thriller vein.

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A dramatic close-up of a young woman in low light, her expression anxious as she touches her chin.

Close-up of a young girl in a winter hat gazing into the distance while an adult sits blurred in the background.

Intense movie poster showing a woman’s face partially obscured by gripping hands, conveying tension and fear.

A girl lies on the floor of a dimly lit room, viewed through a narrow gap as she stares ahead with a faint, uneasy expression.

A man sits slumped on the floor inside an open closet, his legs stretched out into the dimly lit room.

A man with slicked-back hair leans forward, giving an intense, unsettling stare in a softly lit room.

A man with slicked-back hair and a serious expression looks downward in a stark, fluorescent-lit room.

A young girl sits in dim light with her hands at her neck, her expression tense and weary.

A man stands in dim blue light with a hard, menacing stare, his face partially shadowed.