A seemingly ordinary dinner party among friends quickly spirals into a twisted psychological showdown. What begins with wine and cheese unravels into a night of shattered plates, spilled secrets, and more than a little blood. Welcome to Dindin—a film that feels ripped straight from the darkest corners of your wildest nightmares.
“Dinner parties put a lot of moral questions on the table,” says writer Brenda Withers, who also stars as Darlene, the film’s resident provocateur. “Who eats what, who holds their tongues, how everything gets paid for… so it was a naturally rich canvas to explore.”
Initially conceived as a play, Dindin evolved during the pandemic when the creators found themselves rethinking how to bring the story to life. “We tried a reading on Zoom, just to share something with our community and keep our muscles warm. To our surprise, that rudimentary screen version really struck a chord, and Dindin the movie seemed the logical next step,” Withers shares.
What makes Dindin so gripping? It’s not just the sharp writing or the phenomenal performances—it’s how this low-budget indie manages to blend genres so effortlessly, like a perfectly curated cocktail. “Dindin is pretty wide-ranging in tone—it’s a comedy of manners that veers into drama and horror and farce and doesn’t sit too long in any one place,” says Withers. “We settle in the realm of a philosophical thriller.”
The magic behind the camera is largely due to Brendan Patrick Hughes’ visionary direction and the captivating cinematography of Emily Topper, whose past work includes high-profile documentaries on Brooke Shields and Lady Gaga. The film’s visual style is minimalist yet powerful, with long takes that bring the audience uncomfortably close to the emotional heartbeats of the characters.
“Emily is used to working with skeleton crews in remote locations, where she has zero time to decide where the camera goes and how to disappear so that she can capture every drop of psychology in an unfolding scene,” explains Hughes. “With the actors having so much chemistry, we were able to do incredibly long takes and let Emily’s camera rove to find the truth.”
The film doesn’t rely on traditional pacing. Instead, it’s the chemistry between the actors—Brenda Withers, Jonathan Fielding, Robert Kropf, and Stacy Fischer—that creates an almost hypnotic pull. “You develop a vocabulary together that becomes shorthand,” says Jonathan Fielding.
Robert Kropf agrees, adding, “There’s a comfort and sense of ease, rhythmically, that comes from years of bouncing off that other person in a hundred different situations. So you’re able to be much more free and much more open. It’s trust.”
With its mix of comedy, tension, and unexpected violence, Dindin feels like a new-age Agatha Christie story mashed up with an HBO drama. It’s a social experiment wrapped up in a movie—a look at how people’s true selves emerge when the wine is poured and the polite conversation stops.
As the characters navigate delicate social mores and political differences, the film’s deeper message starts to come through: Can we ever truly connect with one another, or are we all just performing versions of ourselves?
For young movie buffs looking for something more than the usual Hollywood fare, Dindin is a revelation. It’s indie, it’s smart, and it’s not afraid to take risks. You won’t be seeing explosions or superheroes here—but you will find yourself gripping your seat during those uncomfortable silences that say more than any punch thrown.
With its upcoming release on Amazon Prime and Apple TV on October 8th, Dindin is poised to carve out a place in the hearts of indie film enthusiasts everywhere.
