Starboard Entertainment Acquires Stephon Stewart’s Existential Fantasy-Horror Film PSYCHE
PSYCHE, the critically acclaimed independent feature from writer/director Stephon Stewart and producer Tracy Keyser, an Orange County local, has been acquired by Starboard Entertainment, and is now available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video. With its longstanding reputation for championing distinctive genre cinema and cult-audience discoveries, Starboard is a natural home for PSYCHE as the film reaches a wider audience.
The release marks a major new chapter for Stewart, whose debut film, the found footage thriller BIGFOOT COUNTY, was released by Lionsgate in 2012. More than a decade later, Stewart returns with his second feature. A bold, atmospheric, and deeply personal film that explores artificial intelligence and the search for meaning in an increasingly technological world.
PSYCHE made its international debut as the Opening Night selection at FrightFest-Glasgow, one of the UK’s most respected genre festivals and a major platform for boundary-pushing cinema. Following its acclaimed festival bow, the film drew strong critical attention for its surreal visual language, philosophical ambition, and hypnotic lead performance from Sara Ritter.
This film is a cerebral exploration of humanity’s evolving relationship with artificial intelligence. Adrift in a mysterious limbo, a young woman and a computer embark on a quest to uncover the meaning of life. The film follows Mara, who awakens alone in a dreamlike desert with no memory of her past. Her only companion is a vintage computer, guiding her through a series of cryptic puzzles that force her to confront the deepest truths of her existence as life, death, and technology collapse into one.
Rather than presenting artificial intelligence as a simple threat, PSYCHE treats AI as a mirror, one that reflects humanity’s most ancient questions back at us: What do we become when our only companion is artificial intelligence? In an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping our sense of identity, PSYCHE arrives as a timely meditation on the emotional and existential space between humanity and computation.
“PSYCHE reminded me of the kind of existential science fiction that stays with you long after the credits,” said Thomas Zambeck, CEO of Starboard Entertainment, formerly of Umbrelic Entertainment and Anchor Bay. “There is a spiritual kinship to Tarkovsky’s STALKER in the way Stewart uses landscape, silence, and mystery to explore the inner life of a human being. Like STALKER, PSYCHE is about what the journey reveals about the soul.”
PSYCHE will also screen at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival for international buyers, further positioning the film as a thought-provoking discovery for global audiences. To learn more visit: https://psychemovie.com/.
ABOUT PSYCHE:
PSYCHE is an independent sci-fi/fantasy film written/directed by Stephon Stewart, known for his visually driven storytelling and a philosophical approach to genre cinema. The film follows a young woman navigating a dreamlike landscape, guided only by a computer, as her journey unfolds into a meditation on identity, artificial intelligence, and the search for meaning. Building on his debut feature “BIGFOOT COUNTY,” released by Lionsgate, Stewart continues to explore immersive, character-driven storytelling at the intersection of technology and humanity. Stewart is a filmmaker, author, and theorist whose work merges art and science with a distinctive voice. Learn more at https://psychemovie.com/.
