Do you want to see the unseen? Dutch (Benedict Wall) may look like just another defeated and washed-up loser, but behind his pissed-off exterior lurks a hyper-dimensional being of exceptional promise. His wife left him, his career as a tennis coach is floundering, and he would give anything to find the driver of the silver Toyota Corolla who hit him and drove off a year ago–the event that initiated Dutch’s downward spiral. Enter Lyra (Florence Noble), a witchy disciplinarian who offers to help Dutch unleash his latent psychic powers and break free from the illusion of linear time. After a crash course in telelocation and astral projection, the unlikely psionic prodigy is ready for his quest of cosmic revenge, but Lyra has other plans: she needs Dutch’s help to find a mysterious crystal known as the Paragon before it falls into the hands of her evil brother Haxan (Jonny Brugh) and his mind slaves. Everything converges towards the singularity in Michael Duignan’s feature debut, a hilarious rift in space-time. Director / Producer / Writer Michael Duignan stops by to talk about his tongue-in-cheek, lo-fi project, working with a loose collection of friends and capturing the zeitgeist of B-movie / sci-fi adventure film.

For more go to: musicboxfilms.com/film/the-paragon

About the filmmaker – Michael Duignan is a film maker, writer and producer creating narrative imagery across multiple mediums.With a BA in Philosophy and an MA in directing from AFTRS, Michael’s short films have screened at the New York Film Festival, London BFI, Seattle Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand and many others. He has directed numerous episodes of television drama and comedy including THE CULT, THE BLUE ROSE and POWER RANGERS. He has made commercials, documentaries, installations, theatre and photography.His debut feature film THE PARAGON premiered at the NZIFF 2023 and has since screened at IFFR Rotterdam, OFF Camera Poland, SFF Sydney, Fantastic Fest Montreal and many others. It will be released later this year through Music Box Films in the U.S. and Vendetta Films in Australia and Aotearoa.

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Reviews:

“It’s hard to find much fault with a film so sincere about being this silly, and Duignan’s earnest channeling of his ’80s influences is arguably closer to them in both spirit and sensibility than films made on far larger budgets.” – Isaac Feldberg, RogerEbert.com

“The Paragon leans hard into its campy, irreverent tone at every turn, making for a charming and surprisingly sincere fantasy comedy.” – Serena Seghedoni, Loud and Clear Reviews

“A micro-budget fantasy comedy with low-key charm” – C.J. Prince, The Film Stage

“A joyous Kiwi midnight-movie oddity that channels ’80s fantasy and DIY gumption in a cosmic quest for a hyper-dimensional crystal.” – Carmrn Gray, The FIlm Verdict

“A surreal, faux 80s ode to the likes of John Carpenter and Terry Gilliam” – Jonny Mahon-Heap – Stuff

“A small film capable of generating some big laughs.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film