Grimm Pictures / An Elevated Horror Drama
Elevated horror rooted in a real location, a real haunting, and footage that has never been explained.
Helen's Bridge is an elevated horror feature drawing inspiration from the greatest works in the genre's literary tradition — Shakespeare's Macbeth and Bram Stoker's Dracula. Like those works, it is a story in which the darkness is sophisticated, the dread is earned, and the horror means something.
At its heart, this is a story about grief — and what grief does to a person when it goes unresolved. It is about love that feeds on life, consuming everything it touches. About obsession as a slow descent. About the particular sadness and loneliness of falling from grace — of once having everything and watching it slip away, one dark choice at a time.
"Not everything that happens at Helen's Bridge has an explanation. That's not a marketing line. That's the truth that drove this film."
The script is built around a real location — the historic stone bridge in Asheville, NC, recognised as one of the most haunted sites in America. It is grounded in a real haunting, documented over generations and never satisfactorily explained. And it incorporates unexplained footage captured during production that the filmmakers themselves cannot account for.
This is not a found-footage film. It is a cinematic, character-driven horror experience — one with the literary ambition of the classics and the authentic chill of something that actually happened.
She doesn't know you're watching.
Written & Directed By
Stephen Presley
Genre
Elevated Horror Drama / Psychological Thriller
Format
Feature Film
Set
Asheville, NC
Status
Final Packaging · 2026
Production
Grimm Pictures / Atlantic Way
Based
Northern Ireland
Positioned Alongside
2019 — Netflix
Marianne
Samuel Bodin
A writer discovers the demon she created in her fiction is real — and hunting her. Grief, obsession, and the terror of a story that takes on a life of its own. One of the closest tonal matches to Helen's Bridge in recent memory.
2018 — Netflix
The Haunting of Hill House
Mike Flanagan
Elevated horror built on grief, family, and the weight of the past. Proves that audiences respond powerfully to horror that means something emotionally.
2021 — Netflix
Midnight Mass
Mike Flanagan
Love that literally feeds on life. Obsession, falling from grace, and the darkness that hides inside devotion. A direct thematic cousin to Helen's Bridge.
Additional comps available in the full pitch deck.
The Filmmakers
Stephen Presley
Writer & Director — Grimm Pictures
Creator of Helen's Bridge and founder of Grimm Pictures. Stephen wrote the original script and directs the project, developing a commercially focused slate of elevated genre films through UK/Ireland production pathways. IMDB →
Gemma Essau
Screenwriting Assistant
Based in Spain, Gemma works closely with Stephen as screenwriting assistant on Helen's Bridge, contributing to the development and refinement of the script throughout its creative journey.
Thomas Humphreys
Staff Screenwriter & Polish
Welsh and Irish, Thomas brings a Celtic literary sensibility to the project as associate staff screenwriter and script polish, sharpening the voice and texture of the screenplay.
Get Involved
We're seeking co-production partners, financing, and distribution conversations. Send us a note and we'll follow up with the full pitch deck.
Or email directly: films@grimmpictures.com