Prime Video has just added a dark, gripping thriller movie gem

The film's vibe has been described as being like 'if Denis Villeneuve made The Hills Have Eyes'.

The feature debut of accomplished music video director Barnaby Clay (who's made promos for Take That, TV on the Radio and The Yeah Yeahs), the film follows Wyndham Stone (Scott Haze, Antlers), an ordinary man who journeys out to a US desert alone to photograph a solar eclipse.

While there, he discovers a young boy distressed and on his own. Trying to help. Wyndham follows the child, who says his parents are nearby.

The boy, however, winds up leading Wyndham in circles before abandoning him. With nighttime approaching, the photographer seeks refuge in a strange house located deep in a desert canyon that is only accessible via a retractable ladder.

Venturing into the gorge, Wyndham is greeted by Alina (indie darling Kate Lyn Sheil, Kate Plays Christine), the gentle if peculiar woman who lives in the isolated home, who gives him food and water.

The next morning, however, Wyndham discovers to his horror that the ladder to get out of the abyss has been removed.

He soon realises that he is being trapped in the canyon by a pack of sadistic children, who begin terrorising him from above and preventing his escape.

The Seeding earned mixed reviews from critics upon release, which makes sense given its near-unrelenting bleakness. That said, JOE would argue that it's well worth seeking out for horror/thriller fans seeking something new and original.

For one, the movie is incredibly atmospheric. Clay shoots his desert setting in a haunting way that captures the area's vast epic beauty, but also its isolation and strange topography that winds up confining Wyndham.

Haze, meanwhile, gives a tour de force performance as his sympathetic everyman lead character, who gradually regresses into a more feral state the longer he is held captive by the incredibly sinister kids lurking above him.

The whole film has a truly nightmarish quality, feeling like one of those dreams where you are trying to get to a specific destination but can't for whatever reason.

You can read a sample of some positive reviews for The Seeding below:

The AU Review: "An arthouse horror film that asks more questions than it can answer, The Seeding is a thinking man’s thriller, designed for audiences who crave their carnage on a more psychological level."

Blu-ray.com: "The writing portions out details of doom carefully, with Clay looking to generate a heavy atmosphere of confusion and frustration, finding his way to some crazy acts of torment in a compelling feature."

Dread Central: "The Seeding is a terrifying primal scream across scorched earth and one of the year’s most confident debuts."

Tampa Bay Newspapers: "Clay’s fusing of claustrophobic estrangement, grisly carnage and Freudian oedipal complexes offers a disturbing allegory about parenthood and the harsh realities of survival."

The Big Picture Podcast: "What if Denis Villeneuve did The Hills Have Eyes?"

How to watch The Seeding

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The Seeding is now streaming in Ireland and the UK on Prime Video and Shudder.