Jenna Ortega (Scream), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Night Teeth), and a host of other Latine actors take the spotlight in the horror-comedy American Carnage.
In the film, a governor issues an executive order to arrest the children of undocumented immigrants, including Camila (Ortega) and JP (Lendeborg Jr.). They are given the opportunity to have their charges dropped if they volunteer to do some community service by helping take care of the elderly. The facility, however, is not what it seems and soon the detained youth are in a fight for their lives.
American Carnage also stars Allen Maldonado (Maya and the Three) as Big Mac, Jorge Diaz (The Owl House) as Chris, Yumarie Morales (The Shrink Next Door) as Lily, and Bella Ortiz (Chicago Med) as Micah. It is directed by Mexican filmmaker Diego Hallivis and written by Hallivis and his brother Julio.
In the first trailer for American Carnage, JP and his sister Lily are in their house talking about Lily going to college when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) break down their front door and arrest them both. It turns out the new governor (Brett Cullen) “wants all detained immigrants gone by election day.”
JP and some others take the District Attorney up on the offer to work at an eldercare facility, so they can be released. The nursing home is run more like a detention center than anything else. “You stick to the program, your time here should be pretty fast and easy,” one of the administrators tells them.
When the elderly residents start acting bizarre and the kids start seeing creepy visions (keep that white lechuza away!), it’s only a matter of time before they’re going to have to escape their confines or die trying. “Am I in here because I’m Latino or Black?” Big Mac asks. “Or both?”
American Carnage will premiere at theaters and on-demand on July 15, 2022.