Romola Garai’s feature directorial debut has secured distribution. Variety reports that Magnolia Pictures’ Magnet Releasing scored North American rights to “Amulet,” with plans to release the Sundance pic in theaters and on demand July 24.

Described by Garai as a “modern-day Gothic horror,” “Amulet” tells the story of a former soldier (Alec Secareanu) who accepts an offer to live and work with a lonely young woman (Carla Juri) and her elderly, abusive mother — the latter of whom is also a demonic force. Garai penned the script.

“I knew I wanted to write a container horror. Many of my favorite films are horrors or have a very dark sensibility, and it was my love for the genre and its unique ability to combine aesthetic beauty with pure emotion that made me want to attempt it,” Garai told us. “In my view, women’s lives are often ‘naturally’ horrific, as experiences like childbirth and living under patriarchy bring out those raw feelings of dread and terror in us anyway. But I also knew I wanted to do something playful with the genre, exploding or toying with some of the myths that exist in many of these films. And I wanted to write something that would appeal to producers and be small scale enough to attempt on a budget,” she explained.

Best known for her work on-screen, Garai’s acting credits include “Suffragette,” “The Hour,” and “Atonement.” She made her directing debut with 2012 short “Scrubber.”

When we asked her advice for other women directors, Garai said, “Ignore every instinct and societal message of your entire upbringing. It’s not your job to make friends as a director, but to get what you want. This doesn’t mean you have to be an asshole. All the good directors I worked with knew completely what they wanted — and were also wonderful collaborators.”