‘The Arborist’ Lands on Digital

Dark Sky Films has released The Arborist across digital platforms, bringing Andrew Mudge’s atmospheric horror thriller to home audiences following an advance industry screening in Los Angeles last month. Available to own from 6 February, the film marks Mudge’s return to the genre space with a story rooted in loss, isolation and the quiet menace of the natural world.

Set on a vast and remote estate far from civilisation, The Arborist follows Ellie, a professional tree surgeon struggling to navigate life after a devastating personal loss. Hoping to regain a sense of control and routine, she accepts a lucrative job alongside her young son Wyatt, hired by reclusive landowner Arthur Randolph to fell a section of woodland on his property. What initially appears to be a straightforward commission soon begins to unravel as the forest reveals a presence that refuses to remain buried.

As the work progresses, Wyatt’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic. He claims to see creatures lurking among the trees, visions that feel disturbingly tangible rather than imagined. Ellie, attempting to hold herself together while caring for her son, begins to sense that the land itself is reacting to their intrusion. Long-suppressed events from her own past start to surface, entwined with the history of the estate and Arthur’s true motives for bringing an arborist onto his land.

Mudge, who both wrote and directed the film, leans into suggestion and atmosphere rather than overt spectacle. The tension builds through character, silence and the uneasy relationship between humans and nature, with the forest functioning as both setting and threat. Lucy Walters anchors the film with a restrained central performance, balancing maternal protectiveness with the emotional weight of grief. Hudson West brings a raw vulnerability to Wyatt, while Will Lyman’s Arthur remains an unsettling presence whose calm demeanour conceals deeper intent.

The film is produced by Mudge alongside Krista Minto, Don Schechter, Nick Santos, Ross Saxon and Mike Bowes. It adds to Dark Sky Films’ growing catalogue of psychologically driven releases.

For Mudge, The Arborist follows a career that spans award-winning shorts and features, from his Sundance-selected work to his internationally recognised debut The Forgotten Kingdom.

The Arborist is available now on digital platforms.

The Arborist trailer