Maddie Evans Leads British Horror ‘Pendle 1612’ About Witch Trials

Maddie Evans is set to lead the British horror feature Pendle 1612, alongside newcomer Ella Moss and Gemma Laurie of Shetland, according to Deadline.

Written and directed by Lancashire-born twin filmmakers Liam Bashford and Kyle Bashford, the film is described as a docu-horror inspired by the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612. Evans will play Amy, Moss will play Hannah and Laurie will play Meg.

The story follows three young women whose documentary investigation into the disappearance of Amy’s older sister takes them into the landscape around Pendle Hill, associated with the trials. Ten people convicted of witchcraft were hanged during the historical persecutions.

The project’s blend of local history, documentary framing and horror places it within a tradition of films using witchcraft history to explore fear and suspicion. Robert Eggers’s The Witch, for example, later demonstrated both the audience interest and expectation risks surrounding formally distinctive folk horror, earning strong critical attention while dividing mainstream viewers. That comparison is contextual rather than a forecast for Pendle 1612.