“Earwig,” French director Lucile Hadžihalilović’s English language debut, premiered at Toronto International Film Festival last year, where it was nominated for the Platform Prize, and went on to win the special jury award at San Sebastian Film Festival. Following a recent theatrical release in the U.K., the body horror pic has now secured distribution in North America, with Juno Films acquiring the rights. Screen Daily broke the news.

Co-written by Hadžihalilović with Geoff Cox, the mid-20th century Europe-set fable tells the story of “a man (Paul Hilton) employed by a figure known only as the ‘master’ to look after a young girl living in near solitary confinement (Romane Hemelaers) with teeth made of ice,” details the source. “One day, he is unexpectedly told to prepare the child to leave.” Romola Garai (“Suffragette”) also stars.

A theatrical release is planned for July 15, to be followed on digital later in the year.

The film is Hadžihalilović’s first feature since 2015’s “Evolution,” a horror story about the anxieties of a child on the verge of puberty which also won the special jury award from San Sebastian. Her 1996 debut “La bouche de Jean-Pierre” was nominated for the Golden Camera award at Cannes. Her other credits include shorts “Nectar” and “De Natura.”