Russellville native Cole Payne's work is making a rare homecoming.
Starting at 7 p.m. tonight and running through Sunday, "Becoming," a supernatural thriller produced by Payne, will show at Capitol City Cinema.
"Becoming," released March 6, stars Toby Kebbell, Penelope Mitchell, Beth Broderick and Jason Patric. This marks the first time Payne will have a film booked to screen locally during its official release period.
"I really appreciate Capitol City Cinema continuing to support me as a filmmaker," Payne said.
The 98-minute film follows a wild-eyed Alex and Lisa. The young couple is taking a cross-country trip when Lisa realizes there's something wrong with her fiancé. The film trailer makes what comes next visually terrifying - a centuries-old possessive entity that targets males has taken over Alex's body, and Lisa might be the only one who can figure out what is going on.
While Payne said he knew the supernatural thriller was commercially accessible and good for business, the story line - it's underlying topics of misogyny and abuse - had untapped artistic potential.
Payne jumped onto the project in early 2018. At the time, the lead actor, Kebbell, was already committed, and the plan was to film in Kentucky. Payne said he brought on the remainder of the financing, did various impending tasks and helped physically produce and oversee the film on the ground.
Though he's credited as a producer, in reality, he did much more. He shrugged it off.
On small budget productions, "you have to wear many hats," he said.
It was a little bittersweet, however, to film in Kentucky, just a stone's throw away from his home state.
Had Missouri had the infrastructure to support such a project, the scenes of "Becoming" might've been shot in Missouri.
"Being a native of Missouri, it's always been sort of a goal and dream of mine to not only bring films back to Missouri, but also to get the infrastructure built and set up, being involved with that," Payne said.
His showing in Jefferson City this weekend has a special place in the Missourian's heart.
"It means a lot to me, actually," Payne said. "A big part of that is that it's not just to be able to say, 'Hey friends and family back home, come see my movie,' but it's also more about that I really believe Missouri could be a film-friendly state and we can get productions, like my production, into Missouri."
Though "Becoming" only had around a $2 million budget - low compared to the average for a film budget - Payne said much of that was spent in Kentucky.
It was in post-production that Payne found his chance.
Much of the film called for Americana-type music. Payne saw this as an opportunity to reach out to Missouri bands Porter Union and The Kay Brothers. The Kay Brothers a few years ago wrote and recorded a song for the film, and Porter Union's "Thief" has a place in the film as well.
"I'm very happy to be able to put some local music in the film, and also very privileged to have them," he said.
Payne said he's ready for mixed reviews ("I've done enough films at this point to know that you're never going to please everybody," he said), but he said he hopes audiences can appreciate the well-crafted story and get a sense for the underlying message - misogyny and abuse in any capacity should not be tolerated.
"But I also don't want to be completely serious and dramatic about this because I do feel there's a lot of fun in the film, too," Payne said.
If you enjoy supernatural thrillers, he said "Becoming" is a film you can enjoy "without thinking about that."
In addition to its showtimes at Capitol City Cinema, the film is available across a number of platforms including iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, Google Play, Fandago Now and Redbox. The movie cost $6.99 to rent.