Andrew Vogel's Newest Feature Film HERMAN: The Darkness Has Come for You - Will the Truth Set Us Free?

My guest today is filmmaker and actor Andrew Vogel, and  co-founder of VP Independent.  In 2023, the company released the action/thriller The Dirty South starring Willa Holland, Shane West, and Dermot Mulroney, which won Best Cinematography at NYC’s Chelsea Film Festival and released worldwide via Cineverse, earning praise from MovieWeb and The New York Times . Andrew’s recent projects include the comedy/thriller Dead Giveaway, winner of “Best Chemistry” at the Philadelphia Film Festival, and his high-concept psychological horror Herman, both set for 2025 release. As an actor, Vogel has appeared in A Walk in the Woods with Robert Redford and  Nick Nolte, CBS’s Under the Dome, ABC’s The Astronaut Wives Club, and the box-office sleeper God’s Not Dead. Andrew is here to talk about his newest film, HERMAN, a film asks the questions How do we face the inner demons that we don't even fully recognize? Will the truth really set us free?  Ladies and gentlemen, HERMAN is a psychological thriller about a man confronting the extremes of his own mind. Living in isolation in the woods, he searches for freedom from himself, only to find that the truths he has buried cannot stay hidden.  They resurface, manifesting in strange and unsettling ways, forcing him to confront the weight of guilt he has tried to escape. The film is inspired by the idea — echoed in Joseph Campbell’s work — that the line between mysticism and madness is often perilously thin. In Herman’s journey, we explore whether the truth can set him free, or if the act of uncovering it is itself a form of surrender. At its heart, the story is about living with oneself in the absence of distractions, confronting what is denied, and reckoning with the strange, dark alchemy of guilt and desire. It is a meditation on isolation, the mind’s capacity for self-deception, and the delicate balance between revelation and ruin. This film keeps you glued to your seat while you slowly see Herman’s life or demons unravel. HERMAN is a heavily character-driven film and the dialogue is focused and poignant to every scene in the film. In an age, where independent filmmakers want to do the slow burn of storytelling, HERMAN doesn’t drag the story out.  It moves freely from scene to scene and you’re waiting to see what will happen next. Add in a couple of nuns, one in particular who is so spiritually in tune, you really want to see more of her.  I’m not going to give any spoilers away here, but there are surprises that await you and that makes for great storytelling and in this case a great film.  #horror #psychologicalthriller #thriller #suspensethriller #haunting #grief #yourpast #film #cinema #bondoncinema #cinematography #specialeffects #filmmaker #filmmaking #filmdirector #filmproducer