Psychological Thriller Filmed In Greenwich To Screen In CT

GREENWICH, CT — Filmmaker Erik Bloomquist remembered the first day on the set of his new film, "Long Lost," was a beautiful late summer day in September 2017. While filming at a private residence in Greenwich near Mianus River State Park, he and his collaborators stayed at the house and woke up early enough on the first day to catch the sunrise.

As they walked outside, Bloomquist and his cast and crew breathed a breath of fresh air and attacked the day, setting the pace for the fast and busy 10-day shoot.

"There was this shared communal focus and we just dived right in," Bloomquist said. "There was this metaphorical and literal breath of fresh air that you get when you’re back on set with your friends and colleagues. In this business, it’s a gift to be able to have an extended period of time with your friends. That really only happens when you’re on a project together, so having two weeks where we were all occupying the same space and making something we all had a creative stake in, it was really wonderful. We were shooting outside all day, and it was very beautiful late summer weather. It was a great way to start."

Filmed entirely in Greenwich, "Long Lost" is the new psychological thriller from Mainframe Pictures that was written and directed by Bloomquist.

According to a press release, the film stars Adam Weppler as Seth, a young man invited to spend a weekend at the Connecticut mansion of his long lost millionaire half-brother Richard (Middletown native and Yale alum Nicholas Tucci). With the help of his enigmatic live-in girlfriend Abby (Catherine Corcoran), Richard leads Seth down a psychological rabbit hole wherein luxury and temptation are intermingled with treachery and taboo.

Though he makes his feature film debut with "Long Lost," Bloomquist is best known for creating the nationally syndicated television series "The Cobblestone Corridor," which was also produced entirely in Connecticut. Bloomquist wrote the script for "Long Lost," based on a story by himself, Weppler and his brother, Carson Bloomquist.

"We wanted to create something that had a mashup of throwback to 90’s erotic thriller, ‘Basic Instinct’ kind of stuff, mixed in with modern day puzzle films," Bloomquist said. "Essentially something where the audience is sort of along for the ride, experiencing a palpable sense of tolerable discomfort and trying to figure out character motivations and things like that along the way."

In addition to "Basic Instinct," Bloomquist's feature draws inspiration from films such as "The Invitation," "Ex-Machina," some "old-school" Alfred Hitchcock films and Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic "The Shining," which was also largely inspirational for the setting of the film.

"Early on...we talked about ‘The Shining’," Bloomquist said. "We wanted the house to be like [the Overlook Hotel] in that it becomes a character in its own right and you never really know what the boundaries of the house are. It’s sort of claustrophobic but also intimate at the same time, and the characteristics sort of shift based on the tone of any given scene or who’s occupying the space at any given time."

As setting plays such a crucial role in film's the story, Bloomquist was fortunate to find the available space for the shoot in Greenwich. A resident of Hartford, he said he was familiar with the area prior to the shoot.

"I have friends in Greenwich and I’ve gone through there several times, so when the opportunity presented itself I knew it was perfect for what we were doing," Bloomquist said. "There’s an aesthetic that is very specific and unique to Greenwich that I think elevates the movie but also makes a statement tonally that is in line with what we wanted to do. It looks beautiful and it supports the story...it’s a really cool place, and I was glad we got to spend an extended amount of time there.

"Long Lost" is slated for a 30-city limited theatrical run that began Friday, March 29. Special local screening events are scheduled at the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk (April 4 at 8 p.m.), Garde Arts Center in New London, Bank Street Theatre in New Milford, Real Art Ways in Hartford, Riverview Cinemas in Southbury and Bijou Theater in Bridgeport.

The film will also receive an Amazon-exclusive digital release starting April 10, which not-so coincidentally is National Siblings Day. According to Bloomquist, the film is not yet rated.

As he prepares to roll out "Long Lost" to audiences in Connecticut and around the country, Bloomquist said he hopes people desire to see the film a second time once the credits roll on their first viewing.

"By design, this is a movie that is very different on second watch because fundamentally your perspective shifts," Bloomquist said. "You’re wondering the whole movie what one person’s motivations are and why their eccentricities are manifesting in a certain way, and so at some point in the movie you find out why rewatch is a very different experience. I hope people are asking questions about identity and how that shifts based on who’s in the room, and what that really means about how a person is defined."