Director: Erik Bloomquist
A mayoral race turns into something far more dangerous in Founders Day, a horror-thriller that trades campaign speeches for a wave of unexplained violence sweeping through a small American town.
What is Founders Day about?
As two rival candidates push toward election day, the town's usual local drama gives way to a string of unsettling, increasingly public incidents that no one can quite explain. Neighbors start eyeing each other with suspicion, campaign staffers get pulled into events well beyond their job descriptions, and the line between civic ambition and personal danger keeps blurring as the vote approaches. Founders Day blends dark comedy, mystery, and outright horror, using small-town election fever as the backdrop for a story that keeps its central threat deliberately obscured until late in the runtime. The film leans on its close-knit setting, where everyone knows everyone, to make the mounting unease feel personal rather than abstract.
Cast & crew
Naomi Grace and Devin Druid lead a young cast caught in the middle of the town's unraveling, while veteran performers William Russ, Amy Hargreaves, and Catherine Curtin fill out the adult roles tied to the election itself. Emilia McCarthy, Olivia Nikkanen, and Jayce Bartok round out an ensemble that spans generations, reflecting how the film's events pull in students, parents, and local officials alike.
Context & significance
Director Erik Bloomquist sets Founders Day in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a hotly contested local election, using the genre's small-town paranoia to comment on how quickly a tight-knit community can turn on itself. Released in 2024 with a 106-minute runtime, the film sits at the crossroads of comedy, horror, mystery, and thriller, shifting tone scene to scene rather than settling into a single register.
Where & how to watch
Founders Day is available to stream on K-Time with a free account login, and the platform's Farsi-first interface makes it simple for Persian-speaking audiences to find and watch. A Persian-dubbed version of the film is ready to play, so no reliance on the original English audio is needed. There is no pricing or trial period tied to browsing this page — a login is all that's required before pressing play.