Reflecting Lightning Into Pictures

September 29th, 2026 — In a bold, uncompromising strike against conventional independent cinema, Ritualistic Pictures, Inc. has officially moved the final two screenplays of Jono Borden’s sprawling Obsidian Mirror Trilogy into pre-production.

​Rejecting linear safety, all three cinematic nightmares will be filmed cross-board. Borden’s inaugural feature, Lightning in the Veins—chronicling the turbulent, electric life of superstar poet Lord Byron—is already gathering dark momentum in pre-production, and it is now flanked in tandem by the simultaneous development of its terrifying companion pieces.

​Creator Jono Borden anchors the triptych across multiple fronts, serving as screenwriter, executive producer, and music supervisor for all three films. Director and talent announcements are soon to follow.

​“We are burning the traditional rulebook of indie filmmaking,” said Borden. “The Obsidian Mirror Trilogy is a ritual descent, and to do it justice, these three stories need to bleed into one another simultaneously. We aren’t just making films; we’re building an altar and starting fires.”

​He added, “We’ve got three distinct, high-concept features marching in lockstep to the beat of lightning, and we aren’t waiting for permission to let the storm break.”

​Operating in a register of poetic gothicism, occult dread, expressionist shadow, and sharp, irreverent bite—turning lightning to pictures—Borden is engineering a cinematic universe where the mirror doesn’t merely reflect—it consumes.

​THE TRINITY: LOGLINES

​I. Lightning in the Veins

​Genres: Biography, Romance, Drama

​Logline: The notorious life of superstar Lord Byron, a restless poet whose determination to free and find himself in a changing world finds him freeing those oppressed by the same forces.

More: Screenplay, Teaser Posters

​II. 360 Degrees of Self-Interest

​Genres: Comedy, Thriller, Drama

​Logline: When a wildfire encircles a disaster-proof museum, a crew of chic billionaire collectors must outlast both flame and flaw, discovering that the fiercest competition is not for art but for who survives being seen.

More: Screenplay, Teaser Posters

​III. The Geometry of Ruin

​Genres: Horror, Romance, Mystery

​Logline: In 1870s Halifax, a principled Royal Engineer and a battle-scarred Royal Artillery officer, assigned to complete a coastal fortress, fall reluctantly in love as they unearth a terrifying secret entombed in its walls—one whose revelation could shatter the British Empire.

More: Screenplay, Teaser Posters

ABOUT RITUALISTIC PICTURES, INC.

Ritualistic Pictures, Inc. is an independent production company dedicated to conjuring bold, atmospheric cinema that refuses to play by industry rules. Blending high-art poeticism with visceral, occult-soaked experimentation, the company champions stories that crawl under the skin and linger long after the screen goes dark.

​For more dispatches from the edge, visit ritualisticpictures.com.

Jono Borden

Jono Borden is a Canadian poet, novelist, lyricist, screenwriter, and filmmaker known for transgressive lyricism, occult symbolism, gothic æsthetics, dark eroticism, and experimental narrative forms.

https://jonoborden.com
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A Living Memento Mori