Written and directed by Seth Daly in his feature directorial debut, The Rows had its international premiere on August 25, 2025, at London’s FrighFest 2025. Shot in Ohio on a micro budget, Daly actually made the film specifically with FrighFest in mind, with every element, from the celluloid photography to the soundtrack, designed for the theatrical experience of the festival.
The film follows seven-year-old Lucy (Brindisi Dupree), who wakes up bloody and disoriented in a mysterious cornfield. With no memory of how she ended up in the cornfield, Lucy starts to explore and soon stumbles across a dead body and an abandoned gun. As she contemplates her strange and scary situation, events take an even more terrifying turn when she is suddenly confronted by a group of masked killers who are searching for her. Soon, Lucy is caught up in a deadly game of cat and mouse as she tries to evade the masked men.
Also starring Marcus Woods (The Opps 2021, Finding Nicole 2025), Lani Pictet (The Palace 2023, The Ritual Killer 2023), Mary Montoya (Unplanned 2019), Hans Heilmann (Well Past Midnight 2022), Rynn Reigns and Douglas Fries, The Rows make use of a reasonable size cast but surprisingly minimal dialogue – especially in the first act of the film. This technique is highly effective in engaging the audience as they desperately try to work out why and how Lucy ended up in the cornfield and who the masked men are who are chasing her.
With that in mind, one of the film’s strongest elements is the cinematography and visuals. The cornfield is a great location, and even though Lucy is often forced into narrow passages and under rows of corn, the film never feels claustrophobic. Lucy may be trapped, but there is always the idea and feeling of the vastness of the field.
Another element that enhances The Rows is undoubtedly Brindisi Dupree’s performance. There are long stretches of the film where she has little to no dialogue, and yet she remains expressive and engaging. The audience immediately roots for her and is on her side throughout.
On the other hand, the story itself, which begins as one thing, ultimately becomes something entirely different. This will either work really well for the audience as a subversion of expectations, or it will be somewhat of a disappointment, as the first act is arguably the strongest and most compelling.
Overall, The Rows is a strong debut from Seth Daly that does not always work, but it does promise exciting things for his sophomore feature. That is why Cryptic Rock gives it 3 out of 5 stars.
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