Ultrasoundis a compellinghorror thrillerwhere nothing is quite as it seems. First premiering at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, the movie found its way into theaters in the United States on July 23, 2025, ahead of its VOD release on July 07, 2025.
Directed by Rob Schroeder (in his feature film debut) and adapted from Conor Stechschulte’sgraphic novel,Ultrasoundtells the story of three strangers who become intertwined in a chaotic experiment. It features endless, mind-blowing twists that begin when Glen (Vincent Kartheiser) has tire problems and stops at a nearby house for help. He meets the strange couple Art (Bob Stephenson) and Cyndi (Chelsea Lopez), and is welcomed in for a drink and to rest. The vibe is instantly uneasy and would be reminiscent of the cult classicThe Rocky Horror Picture Showif there were singing and cheer involved. However, staying true to its dark and off-beat nature, the movie adopts a consistently serious tone— even as Art persuades Glen to sleep with his wife. Things quickly get messy. Cyndi falls pregnant, and two more characters are introduced, an unhappy woman stuck in an unfulfilling relationship, Katie (Rainey Qualley), and medical professional Shannon (Breeda Wool) working on a questionable experiment.
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Game Ranthad the opportunity to chat with Schroeder about his film, his collaboration process with Stechschulte, his favorite performances, the most challenging scene to shoot, the problem with misinformation, and more.
Game Rant: What drew you to Ultrasound?
Rob Schroeder:It was the experience of reading thegraphic novel. This is based on a graphic novel that was told in four parts. I picked up book one and didn’t really know what was going on. It was the beginning of the story. It seemed pretty straightforward. But then when I picked up the second book, a year later, it was very mysterious because it introduced the facility, and suddenly there was a lot more to the story. When that happened, I reached out to Conor, who writes, draws, and illustrates the whole series, and he came on board and wrote the script. He then finished the last two parts of the graphic novel. I worked with him on the script, but the real hook was when I read those first few graphic novels and felt that its mystery would translate well to the screen.
GR: With all the different elements, how were you able to maintain a consistent tone throughout the movie?
Schroeder:It took me a little while to wrap my head around the whole thing. Conor was very helpful with that. But once I understood the story, I felt I could help communicate it to other people. The first step was really, really understanding everything that was going on, myself, and plotting it and seeing how all the pieces work together. There is a lot of information coming out, and if you miss a beat, you might not get back on track.
GR: What performance are you most excited for new viewers to see?
Schroeder: From the actors? Oh, man. I was blown away by what our cast was able to pull off. There was one role that felt especially right. I thought Bob Stephenson as Art really toed the line of being many different things. He delivered the goods. But everyone was phenomenal.
GR: What was the most exciting scene to shoot? Was there anything that challenged you artistically?
Schroeder:All of the rain stuff was challenging because we didn’t have the budget to do a proper big rain setup. We made our own rain-tower-thing with garden hoses and got really good at making it rain. Those were always a little challenging, but exciting. I thought the scenes with Glenn and Shannon were really intense and interesting. When he’s in the wheelchair, and they’re sitting opposite each other. Those were really intense, fun scenes. I love thestage hypnotismbecause that was just an exciting moment in the film, and you get to see Art and Cindy doing their thing.
GR: What is the message that you hope audiences take away from the movie?
Schroeder:That it is important to pay attention to where you’re getting your information and try to find different sources for things, and come up with your own ideas and thoughts. Because right now,with social media and how we get our information, there is a lot of misinformation, and you can easily wind up going down the wrong path. This film explores a lot of those themes that we’re seeing in real life.
Ultrasoundis currently available on DVD and On Demand.
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