Toronto’s Breakthrough Entertainment has picked up sales for Cannes on thriller The Drownsman, which screens in the market on Thursday (15).

Chad Archibald directed the Black Fawn Films story of a woman haunted by an incident where she nearly drowned.

“We set out to make a film that created a new supernatural villain like the classic horror films of Clive Barker and Wes Craven, something that has become rare in the horror industry over the last decade,” said Archibald.

“Similar to Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Pinhead and Jason Voorhees, we wanted to create a villain with a rich history and a juicy hook that could ignite some fandom amongst genre fans.”

Michelle Mylett, Caroline Korycki, Gemma Bird Matheson, Sydney Kondruss, Clare Bastable and Ry Barrett star.

Christopher Giroux and Archibald produce and Peter Williamson, Ira Levy, Nat Abraham and Michael McGuigan are the executive producers.