is apologizing to him for her deeds; then all goes dark and Bryan finds himself at the foot of the stairs as the screen goes dark. Cast Production Writer and director Tennyson Bardwell wrote the first draft of the script in the 1980s. Mary-Beth Taylor, was one of the film producers, along with Bardwell himself, Isen Robbins, and Aimee Schoof. Shooting began in 2005, with eight weeks spent filming in various locations around the Saratoga Springs, New York area – where Bardwell lives in Ballston Spa – including the city Court House, the Olde Bryan Inn, the Union Gables Bed and Breakfast as well as Union College in nearby Schenectady, The Batcheller Mansion Inn was used for the three-story Victorian mansion where much of the film takes place. The production paid for exclusive use of the mansion for five weeks during its off-season. Filming was completed in 2006, and post-production finished in 2008. In creating the film, in a markedly different genre from his first work, the 2004 comedy Dorian Blues, Bardwell aimed to create a film that would be "a Rorschach test for people's beliefs", in which viewers would have different ideas of what happened. Intended to concentrate on the psychological rather than gore, the film has no "blood and guts" and instead requires viewers to be skeptical and open to the different possible interpretations of the ending. The Skeptic marks Bardwell's first time working with Hollywood actors, having used only locals and new theater school graduates in his first film. Release The Skeptic was presented at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, after which the Independent Film Channel purchased it for distribution. IFC first released it to their video on demand channel on April 29, 2009. The film premiered theatrically in Saratoga Springs and at the IFC Center in New York City on May 1, 2009, in Albany, New York on May 8, 2009, and in Beverly Hills on May 15, 2009. Reception In its opening weekend in a single theater, The Skeptic earned $1,553. During its three-week run, it earned a total of $6,671 in box office receipts. Critics generally gave negative reviews. At the film aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, it has given a score of 8% based on 12 critic's reviews, who gave it an average score of 3.2 out of 10. At Metacritic, it has a score of 31 out of 100 based on four critical