Writer-director Izabel Pakzad’s feature debut Find Your Friends starring Bella Thorne (Divinity), Chloe Cherry (Euphoria), Helena Howard (Madeline’s Madeline), Sophia Ali (Uncharted), Zion Moreno (Gossip Girl) has been acquired by Shudder.
The film had its world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival, and went on to screen at Toronto International Film Festival as one of 10 Industry Selects, followed by its US premiere at Fantastic Fest. The deal includes rights in North America, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Australia, and New Zealand. Find Your Friends will be released on Shudder on June 12, 2026.
Find Your Friends follows Amber and her four best friends as they flee Los Angeles for a girls’ trip in Joshua Tree, only to find themselves unwelcome in a desert town simmering with quiet hostility. As isolation sets in and encounters with aggressive locals grow more threatening, festering resentments within the group begin to surface. What begins as fun and reckless escape spirals into a violent struggle for control and survival, as past wounds and present dangers collide in a night that turns their trip into a revenge-fueled nightmare.
Izabel Pakzad is an Iranian-Greek American filmmaker, writer, and actor. Her short film Don’t Worry, It’s Gonna Be Ok (2022), which she directed, wrote and starred in, was an official selection at the Oscar-qualifying Raindance Film Festival and Hollyshorts, and also won Best Short Film at the L.A. Film Festival.
Previously, Pakzad produced and starred in the independent feature, Thena, opposite Chris Bauer, Virginia Gardner (Fall), Brian Marc (White Girl) Will Peltz (Euphoria), Dakotas Lotus (Cami and Coop), and Malia Baker (The Baby-Sitters Club,). Thena had its world premiere at Taormina Film Festival in June 2025.
“Shudder champions work that refuses to play by the rules and challenges everything we think young women should be in genre films. My hope was to make a film that audiences find to be raw, unapologetic and bold and I am so grateful to be partners with them, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect home for Find Your Friends,” said writer-director Izabel Pakzad.
Watch the first trailer / clip from Find Your Friends above
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