You’re out in the desert. The sun is a heavy weight on your neck. Suddenly, you realize you aren't alone. That’s the core dread fueling The Seeding, a 2023 folk-horror nightmare that feels like a fever dream you can’t wake up from. When people look up the cast of The Seeding, they usually aren't just looking for a list of names. They’re trying to figure out where they’ve seen that guy before or how a movie with basically two main actors managed to be so incredibly stressful.
It's a lean film. It doesn't have a sprawling ensemble or a bloated budget. Instead, director Barnaby Clay relies on a handful of performances to carry a story about a man trapped in a canyon by a pack of feral children. Honestly, it’s the kind of movie that makes you want to never go hiking again.
The weight of the entire narrative sits on the shoulders of Scott Haze and Kate Lyn Sheil. If either of them had missed a beat, the whole thing would’ve collapsed into a goofy desert romp. But they didn't. They made it feel primal.
Scott Haze as Wyndham Stone
Scott Haze plays Wyndham Stone, a photographer who makes the classic horror movie mistake: he tries to be a "good guy" and help a lost child. Big mistake.
Haze is one of those actors who is quietly becoming a legend in the "disturbing indie" circuit. If you recognize him, it’s probably from Child of God, where he played Lester Ballard. He’s got this intense, physical way of acting that feels raw. In The Seeding, he has to go from a confident, slightly arrogant city guy to a broken, desperate animal.
Watching Haze’s physical transformation in this movie is wild. He loses that civilized "gloss" pretty fast once he realizes he's stuck at the bottom of a hole with no ladder. You can see the grime getting under his fingernails. You can hear the dehydration in his voice. It's not just a performance; it's a marathon of suffering.
Kate Lyn Sheil as Alina
Then there’s Alina, played by Kate Lyn Sheil. She is the heart of the mystery. Is she a victim? Is she a jailer? Is she just a woman who has accepted a reality that Wyndham can't even fathom?
Sheil is an indie darling for a reason. You might remember her from House of Cards or You're Next. She has this incredible ability to look completely vacant and deeply soulful at the same time. It’s haunting. In The Seeding, she plays Alina with a sort of weary, maternal detachment. She’s the only adult woman in this bizarre canyon ecosystem, and the way Sheil interacts with the "boys" who keep them trapped is enough to give you chills.
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She doesn't give much away. While Wyndham is screaming at the sky, Alina is just... existing. She’s washing clothes. She’s cooking. She’s a domestic ghost. It’s Sheil’s subtle facial cues that tell you more about the world of the film than any dialogue ever could.
The Feral Children: A Different Kind of Ensemble
The rest of the cast of The Seeding is comprised mostly of the "boys." They don't have many lines. They don't have character arcs in the traditional sense. They are more like a force of nature—or a pack of wolves in oversized t-shirts.
Alex Montaldo plays the "Lead Boy," and he manages to be terrifying without saying much. The casting of these kids was crucial. If they looked too "Hollywood," the threat would vanish. Instead, they look like real kids who have been left in the sun too long. They are lean, tanned, and have eyes that look like they’ve seen things no ten-year-old should see.
Barnaby Clay, the director, clearly wanted a sense of "otherness." These aren't just naughty kids. They are the product of the environment created by the desert and the strange societal structure Alina exists within.
Why the Cast Matters More Than the Plot
In a movie where the setting is just a big hole in the ground, the actors have to do the heavy lifting of world-building. We learn about the rules of this world through Wyndham’s failed escapes and Alina’s quiet warnings.
The chemistry between Haze and Sheil is uncomfortable. It has to be. They are forced together by circumstance, not choice. There’s a scene involving a "gift" from the boys that is genuinely one of the most skin-crawling things in recent horror cinema. It works because Haze plays it with total revulsion while Sheil plays it with a terrifyingly calm acceptance.
Behind the Scenes: Barnaby Clay’s Vision
While not technically part of the "cast," director Barnaby Clay is the one pulling the strings. This was his feature debut, which is hard to believe given how confident the visual style is. He’s married to Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), who actually contributed to the film's eerie atmosphere.
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Clay chose to shoot in Utah, and the landscape is basically a character itself. The red rocks are beautiful, but they feel like prison bars. The way the camera looks down on the characters from the rim of the canyon makes the audience feel like they are one of the feral boys watching a bug in a jar.
Notable Cameos and Minor Roles
Look, this isn't Oppenheimer. There aren't thirty famous faces popping in for a scene. But the few people we do see in the "outside world" at the beginning and end of the film serve as a sharp contrast to the madness in the canyon.
- Aarman Kazi appears as the Lost Boy. He's the catalyst. The "bait."
- Charlie Avink has a small role as a hiker.
These brief glimpses of "normal" people remind the audience of what Wyndham is losing. Every minute he spends in that hole, his old life as a photographer fades away. The cast handles this transition beautifully, moving from a modern thriller vibe into something that feels ancient and ritualistic.
Comparison to Similar Casts
If you liked the vibe of the cast of The Seeding, you’ll probably see parallels in other "contained" horror movies.
Think about The Lighthouse. You have two men (Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) losing their minds in a confined space. In The Seeding, it’s a man and a woman, but the psychological erosion is similar. Or look at Misery. Kathy Bates and James Caan. It’s that same dynamic of a captive and a captor where the lines eventually start to blur.
What makes this cast unique is the silence. There is so much silence in this movie. The actors have to communicate through breathing, through the way they hold a spoon, through the way they flinch when a shadow moves.
Real-World Impact and Reception
When The Seeding hit the festival circuit (it premiered at Tribeca), people were immediately talking about Scott Haze. Critics noted that he is basically the "king of suffering."
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The film currently sits with a decent critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it's a "love it or hate it" kind of movie. People who hate it find it too slow. People who love it appreciate the performances and the metaphor for the "trap" of traditional domestic life.
Honestly, it’s a tough watch. It’s not a "popcorn" horror movie. It’s a "sit in silence for ten minutes after the credits roll" movie. That’s a testament to the cast. They made the stakes feel real enough to be genuinely upsetting.
The Mystery of the Ending
Without spoiling too much, the final act of the film relies entirely on Scott Haze’s facial expressions. We see a man who has finally been "broken in." It’s a haunting image. The way the cast of The Seeding handles the conclusion is what elevates it from a standard thriller to a genuine piece of folk-horror art.
It explores themes of isolation, the loss of identity, and the terrifying power of a community—even a community of children—to overwrite an individual's will.
How to Appreciate The Seeding
To truly get what the cast was trying to do, you have to watch for the small details.
- Watch the eyes. Specifically Sheil’s. She does more with a blink than most actors do with a monologue.
- Listen to the sound design. The wind and the rocks are as much a part of the cast as the humans.
- Observe the physical decay. Notice how the costumes change. They don't just get dirty; they start to look like they belong to the earth.
If you are looking for a horror film that stays with you, pay attention to these actors. They didn't just show up for a paycheck in the desert. They went somewhere dark for this one.
Next Steps for Fans of the Cast:
- Watch Scott Haze in Child of God: If you thought he was intense here, his performance in this Cormac McCarthy adaptation is on another level of feral.
- Follow Kate Lyn Sheil’s Indie Work: Check out Sun Don't Shine or She Dies Tomorrow to see more of her unique, haunting style.
- Research the Filming Locations: Looking up the specific Utah canyons where they filmed gives you a new appreciation for the physical toll the production took on the cast and crew.
- Explore Folk Horror: If the "cult-like" vibes of the children interested you, dive into the "Unholy Trinity" of folk horror: The Wicker Man, Witchfinder General, and Blood on Satan’s Claw.