Canada’s Carly Pope brings on the chills in her new sci-fi thriller, Demonic.

From the director of District 9 and Elysium, Neill Blomkamp brings us a terrifying story about Carly, a young woman who unleashes evil demons when supernatural forces surface at the root of a decades old rift between mother (Angela) and daughter.

Michael (Michael J. Rogers) and neuroscientist Daniel (Terry Chen) enter a harrowing simulation of Angela’s mindscape. There, she discovers the powerful supernatural force. It’s one that drove her mother to commit unspeakable acts of violence nearly two decades earlier.

Afterward, haunted by terrifying visions, Carly joins forces with her old friend Martin (Chris William Martin). She desperately tries to fend off the monstrous demon before it can enter a new host. If it finds a new host, it can inflict more pain and suffering on the world.

A horror thriller with a high-tech twist, Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) wrote and directed Demonic. The film stars Carly Pope (The Good Doctor, Elysium), Chris William Martin (Supergirl, The Vampire Diaries), Michael J. Rogers (Siren, Welcome to the Circle), Nathalie Boltt (Riverdale, District 9), Kandyse McClure (Charmed, Hemlock Grove) and Terry Chen (Jessica Jones, House of Cards). Producers are Neill Blomkamp, Mike Blomkamp, Stuart Ford (The Secrets We Keep, The Rhythm Section) and Linda McDonough (Ender’s Game, Drive). Executive producers are Miguel A. Palos, Jr. (The Secrets We Keep, Midway), Alastair Burlingham (Boss Level, Escape Plan 2: Hades), Charlie Dombek (SAS: Red Notice, Ghosts of War), Viktor Muller and Steven St. Arnaud (Cooking with Bill, District 9).

The film is quite unique and ahead of it’s time. The amount of volumetric capture in Neill Blomkamp’s Demonic during a dream sequence is about 15-20 minutes and is the most ever in a feature film.

Unity, a volumetric video capture technology, provided Neill Blomkamp and team access to Project Inplay (code name). It’s a patent-pending technology that solves the challenges that come along with volumetric playback, rendering and streaming. Project Inplay allows efficient playback and rendering of large volumetric data (point clouds) in real-time. This makes it possible to craft experiences that traditional motion capture or 3d modeling can’t match.

Lead actress Carly Pope shot the bulk of her scenes surrounded by 260 camera. Blomkamp pointed that camera at her all at once to get a geometric look for the dream sequences.

Unique to Unity, Project InPlay (code name) makes it possible to dynamically relight volumetric capture. In general, other programs capture volumetric data with flat and limited lighting. But this innovative tech creates the ability to add dynamic lighting or shadows. And it supports real time raytracing for point cloud and volumetric data.

Volumetric capture can be challenging due to the sheer size of the datasets it creates. Unity created an end to end pipeline that allows rendering enormous volumetric datasets across devices. And it does so easier and faster without worrying about the captured format. Project Inplay also allows rendering real-time volumetric data and the Demonic volumetric sequence in VR.

Our Bonnie Laufer caught up with Carly Pope via Zoom to discuss the new shooting technique. They also discuss reuniting with Blomkamp and how the film made her treasure her relationship with her own parents.

Demonic opens in select theatres and on demand everywhere you rent movies Friday, August 20th.