Lyvia’s House (2023) ⭐️⭐️⭐
When a young journalist suspects the disappearance of a beautiful artist is connected to murders that took place 20 years earlier, she uncovers a reality she never could have imagined. Inspired by true events.
Lyvia’s House (2023) is a suspense-filled mystery thriller that takes viewers on a chilling journey into the secrets of a rural town. Tara Manning (Tara Nichol Caldwell), an up-and-coming journalist with a successful career and an enviable lifestyle in Lake Las Vegas, uproots her life to move in with her boyfriend, Johnny Beers (Joshua Malekos), an aspiring architect. Their new home, previously owned by an Italian artist named Lyvia, sits on a walnut orchard in a quiet California town. Despite the picturesque setting, locals speak of Lyvia with derision and mockery, dismissing the artist’s legacy.
As Tara begins to settle in, strange occurrences plague her daily life. She hears whispers, sees things she can’t explain, and starts questioning her own sanity. Tara’s investigative instincts lead her to suspect that Lyvia’s mysterious disappearance is connected to a series of brutal murders that took place 20 years ago, and leaving her to question whether her mind is playing tricks on her or if there’s something much darker lurking beneath the town’s quaint, yet tight-lipped exterior. No matter which, Tara’s sanity, self and security tear at the seams.
Inspired by true events, Lyvia’s House pulls from real-life influences, including the notorious Juan Corona murders of farm workers in the 1970s. Writer Patricia V. Davis took inspiration from the rural town where her husband’s family has farmed rice for generations, injecting authenticity and depth into the film’s portrayal of small-town life. Davis sought to challenge Hollywood stereotypes of rural communities, creating depth and complexity in her characters while weaving in a fictional aftermath of past horrors. The film diverges from the gruesome source material, focusing on psychological tension and the ripple effects that ill-famed violence can have on a small town and Director Niko Volonakis elevates the story with a low bubbling agitation and dread against an idyllic scenic backdrop with Cinematographer Cody Martin pulling unease and madness to its peak.
With standout performances from Caldwell as Tara, who’s duality and range sizzle on screen, Lyvia’s House offers an eerie and compelling look at how history, trauma, and mystery can intertwine. It’s a fever dream and slow-burn thriller in one that keeps you guessing and an homage to the those still suffering the aftershocks of horrific crimes.
ABOUT LYVIA’S HOUSE
Written by Patricia V. Davis and Directed by Niko Volonakis, Produced by Tara Nichol Caldwell, Joni Cuquet, Patricia V. Davis, Pete Davis, Nicholas Levis, Cinematography by Cody Martin
Starring: Tara Nichol Caldwell, Joshua Malekos, Anne Marie Gideon, Andrew Diego, Danielle Octavian, Deborah Tucker
Wins and Nominations:
- Athens International Digital Film Festival: Winner, Honorary Distinction, Director
- Toronto International Women’s Festival: Winner, Best Female Screenwriter, Patricia V. Davis
- Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival: Semi-Finalist, Screenplay, Patricia V. Davis
- Horrorfest International 2023: Semi-Finalist, Screenplay, Patricia V. Davis
- Nevada Women’s Film Festival 2023: Nominated Best Fiction Feature, Best Nevada Film
- Macoproject Film Festival 2023: Best Editing
- Sin City Festival 2022: Winner, Best Feature, Best Music Score
- Oscar Qualified for 2024
LYVIA’S HOUSE COMES TO STREAMING OCTOBER 1ST
Mo Moshaty is an acclaimed horror writer, lecturer, and producer whose work combines visceral storytelling with the psychological insight of her Cognitive Behavioral Therapy background. She has lectured internationally, including as a keynote speaker at Nightmares from Monkeypaw: A Jordan Peele Symposium (Prairie View A&M), No Return: A Yellowjackets Symposium (Horror Studies BAFSS Sig), The Whole Damn Swarm: Celebrating 30 Years of Candyman (University of California), and with the Centre for the History of the Gothic (University of Sheffield). Mo has also presented at the BFI, Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, and Final Girls Berlin Film Festival’s Brain Binge on women’s trauma in horror cinema, Cine-Excess on The Creepy Kid Horror Subgenre and Mother/Daughter Trauma in Horror, and Romancing the Gothic on Cosmic Horror’s Havoc on The Body Electric Her short film, 13 Minutes of Horror: Sci-Fi Horror, won the 2022 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Short Film. As a core producer with Nyx Horror Collective, Mo co-created the 13 Minutes of Horror Film Fest and partnered with Shudder in 2021 and 2022, while also establishing a Stowe Story Labs fellowship supporting women creatives over 40+ in horror. A member of the Black Women in Horror Class of 2023 and featured in 160 Black Women in Horror, Mo’s short fiction appears in A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales (Brigid’s Gate Press) and 206 Word Stories (Bag O’ Bones Press). Her debut novella, Love the Sinner, was released July 5, 2024, with Clairviolence: Tales of Tarot and Torment released in October 2025. The first of her five-volume non-fiction series, The Annex of the Obscure: The Afterlife, will be released in 2027 from Tenebrous Press. As the Editor-in-Chief of NightTide Magazine and founder of Mourning Manor Media, Mo champions marginalized voices in horror. Under her leadership, NightTide plans to launch a film festival in 2028, furthering her mission to reshape the genre through inclusivity and representation.
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