Private Project

The Licked Hand

A violent storm traps an elderly widow inside her isolated home with her aging dog. When something licks her hand in the dark, she thinks nothing of it until she realizes the dog is in the other room. As the power dies and the storm seals her in, someone stalks the house, stirring memories she's spent decades burying. To survive the night, she must become the woman she’s never dared to be.

  • Adad Joel Warda
    Director
    Miss Her, The Hard R, Unsound Play
  • Levi Gordon
    Writer
    The Hard R, The Hard Hit, Wrong For Right
  • Adad Joel Warda
    Writer
    Miss Her, The Hard R, Unsound Play
  • Jamie Ohlsen
    Producer
    The Hard Hit, The Hard R, Wrong For Right,Chemtrails
  • Jason R. Martinez
    Producer
    The Unexpecteds, Hangtown, Millenium Bugs
  • Dee Wallace
    Key Cast
    "Eleanor"
    E.T., Cujo, The Howling
  • Ben Milliken
    Key Cast
    "Jake"
    Blue Crush 2, Bosch, The Image of You
  • Cecily Elliot
    Key Cast
    "Dakotah"
    Dave, General Hospital, Normal With A Capital N
  • Rob Gallavan
    Key Cast
    "Paul"
    The Lowdown, Reagan, Parkland
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Horror
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    240,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Alexa Mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Distribution Information
  • Sublimity
    Sales Agent
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Adad Joel Warda

Adad Joel Warda is an award-winning Assyrian American filmmaker based in San Francisco whose work centers on family, identity, and the human condition, shaped by fluency in three languages and over a decade living abroad in Prague. His short film Miss Her was selected for the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival and won Best Short at Illume; The Hard R earned Best Short of the Season in January 2025; and his sci-fi TV pilot Sky City Haya was a finalist at both Screencraft and ATX. He continues to develop projects that illuminate underrepresented voices and diverse perspectives.

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Director Statement

Film lives in the tension between what is felt and what is understood, that liminal moment between sleep and wakefulness. We love films that make us feel. We return to the ones that make us think about how we feel.