Lost at Sea and Out of Time as ‘Row’ Premieres at Raindance

One of the more physically demanding UK productions on this year’s Raindance slate, Row is set to make its World Premiere at the 33rd Raindance Film Festival later this month. The oceanic survival thriller from director Matt Losasso has secured four award nominations ahead of its screening on 21 June, including Best UK Feature and Best Director of a UK Feature.

Shot largely on location in the far north of Scotland, Row tells the story of a woman who washes up on a remote beach, seemingly the only survivor of a failed trans-Atlantic rowing expedition. Her discovery, alone and bloodied aboard a vessel with no sign of her crewmates, sets off a tense psychological and physical reckoning as she grapples with trauma-induced memory loss and the looming threat of suspicion. With the fate of her companions unknown and police closing in, she is forced to reconstruct her shattered recollections to clear her name.

The lead performance comes from Bella Dayne (Humans), whose portrayal of the stranded rower has already drawn attention on the festival circuit. Dayne is nominated for Best Performance in a UK Feature, joining an awards slate that also recognises the film’s cinematography and Losasso’s direction.

The supporting cast includes Sophie Skelton (Outlander), Akshey Khanna, Nick Skaugen, Tam Dean Burn and Mark Strepan. Filming took place across five weeks in Caithness, with open-water sequences captured both at sea and in a custom-built water tank. The film’s interiors were primarily shot at the House of the Northern Gate, near John O’Groats, with additional elements completed on a sound stage.

With echoes of Open Water and The Vanishing, Row strips back its premise to focus on isolation, guilt and the desperation to survive. Its minimalist approach and rugged Atlantic setting are a departure from the more urban or supernatural fare often seen in British genre entries. Instead, Losasso’s film hinges on sustained tension and ambiguity, questioning what the protagonist might be repressing, and whether survival has come at a price too steep to bear.

The World Premiere at Raindance will serve as a launch pad for wider release discussions, with Kaleidoscope Entertainment overseeing distribution. The screening is expected to draw attention from industry delegates and buyers, particularly given its potential for international appeal and its placement within a strong UK-focused section of this year’s festival.

With its brutal setting and fractured sense of reality, Row arrives at Raindance with the promise of something elemental and unrelenting. Watch the trailer below for a taste of what you can expect.

Row trailer