Set in 2004, Iranian immigrant Yasamin aka Yasi is the new girl at a Canadian school. Her high school experience is daunting, as she tries to improve her English by watching her favorite sitcom and befriends a trio of pastel-clad girls who feed Yasi’s need to fit in. Desperate for acceptance, she dyes her hair blonde and, in doing so, also attracts a demonic force.

 When a Persian teen desperate to fit in at her new high school dyes her hair blonde, she unwittingly unleashes a demon tied to the parts of her identity she yearns to erase.

Set in early 2000s Canada, Yasamin (Rose Dehgan) is an Iranian new to Canada and like any teen going to a new school, she just wants to fit in. So when mean girl Rachel (Chloë Macleod) and her sinister smiling sidekicks take an interest in newcomer Yassmin, all she wants to do is find a way to blend in with the trio and what better way than dyeing her hair blonde? What could go wrong? But for Yasamin this seemingly innocent act, awakens a monstrous force that gets stronger and stronger the more she assimilates.

In Foreigner, Ava Maria Safai crafts a wholly original horror film that plays by its own rules, transcending immigration trauma tropes. Safai directed, wrote, produced, and edited the project. Catch this auspicious debut that world premiered at the prestigious Fantasia International Film Festival before it’s too late. -REELWORLD

Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.