BTL Radio Show – 04/20/2026 with special guest writer/director ANTON SIGURDSSON discussing the thriller, REFUGE

This week on BEHIND THE LENS, it’s all about tension and terror, blood and brutality with writer/director ANTON SIGURDSSON’s psychological thriller/mystery,  REFUGE.

Four estranged friends reunite on a fishing trip, but a missing child and a desperate father’s accusation turn the reunion into a deadly reckoning.  Brutal, bloody…..lots of duct tape involved.  Terror-filled.  A twisted ending that will probably surprise most.

Written and directed by Icelandic filmmaker ANTON SIGURDSSON, REFUGE boasts a wonderful cast of Adam Sinclair (Sam), Adam Dorsey (Mike), Donald Paul (Barry), and Christopher Dietrick (Jay).  Behind the lens, we have high storytelling production values thanks to cinematographer Gunnar Audum Johansson and editor Sharif M.Es. Ali, amazing production designer Jarrett Staaf, and a score by Yu Miyashita.

Shot in Lake Placid, the story is set outside Philadelphia, which you get from the film’s opening with a beautiful superimposed montage of multiple news reports that cover the disappearance and presumed murder of a little girl in the area.  Her father is Sam, one of the four friends who get together at this “cabin in the woods”.

There’s something deceptively simple about the premise of REFUGE. Four longtime friends gather at a remote cabin. One of them—Sam—has never recovered from the disappearance of his young daughter. Grief lingers. Questions fester. And before long, suspicion turns inward, accusations fly, and the walls—both literal and emotional—begin to close in.

But as Anton reveals, REFUGE is anything but simple. What unfolds on screen as a brutal, blood-soaked psychological thriller and mystery is, at its core, a meticulously engineered exercise in visual and sonic storytelling—one built under pressure, on the fly, and, in more ways than one, discovered in the moment.

As a single-location, four-hander that leans heavily into performance and character dynamics, this is a structure that could easily have translated to the stage. But for Anton, the challenge—and the opportunity—was to make it unmistakably cinematic.  That was achieved in a carefully calibrated visual grammar developed in close collaboration with cinematographer Gunnar Audum Johansson, a longtime creative partner who instinctively understands Anton’s instincts as both a storyteller and visual architect.  Rather than relying on traditional coverage to build a scene in the edit, Anton and Gunnar construct tension within the frame, allowing shots to breathe, performances to unfold in real time, and camera movement to carry emotional weight.  It’s a beautiful tonal visual dance.

So get ready, as writer/director Anton Sigurdsson discusses REFUGE,  highlighting its single-location, four-hander format and a character study of friendship. Inspired by personal experiences in Iceland, the film was shot in 11 days with a small crew and a budget-conscious approach. Emphasizing the importance of visual storytelling, Anton discusses working with his cinematographer, Gunnar Audum Johansson, and developing visual grammar through techniques such as extreme close-ups, camera Dutching, and slow motion.  We dive into the meticulously crafted sound design, which enhances the narrative, with a focus on ambient sounds, Yu Miyashita’s score, and a mix of old and new cinematic styles. And how about the tightly cut, tension-riddled editing from editor Sharif M. Es. Ali that includes some beautiful montages that serve as exposition.   Plus, duct tape.  We talk duct tape!   AND, we even get some tidbits about Anton’s next film, A BETTER PLACE, a crime thriller with Theo Rossi and Billy Campbell.

Enjoy!

And you can watch REFUGE right now on VOD!

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