Heartstopper’s Kit Connor And Manu Ríos To Star In ‘Juicy’ Gay Zombie Horror with Will Poulter

Heartstopper star Kit Connor is swapping teenage romance for medieval monks and the undead in upcoming queer zombie horror Rapture.

Connor is set to star alongside Spanish Élite heartthrob Manu Ríos and Midsommar and Guardians of the Galaxy star Will Poulter in the new film from award winning queer Canadian writer and director Jordan Tannahill.

Set in Yorkshire in 1348, Rapture takes place at the fictional Lansley Abbey, where ten monks live an isolated life of strict routine and religious devotion.

Their peaceful existence is shattered by the arrival of a messenger carrying news of a mysterious plague spreading across England before he begins showing symptoms himself.

However, this is no ordinary Black Death.

The illness transforms its victims into undead creatures known as “revenants”, leaving the monks trapped between infected attackers and desperate outsiders begging to be allowed inside.

As the monastery comes under threat, the brothers become divided between those who believe they have a duty to help the sick and those determined to seal themselves away and protect the centuries of knowledge stored inside.

Kit Connor’s Rapture is ‘queer body horror’

While the zombie apocalypse is terrifying enough, Tannahill has revealed there is also a gay love story beating at the heart of Rapture.

“It’s queer body horror,” he told Them of the project.

Tannahill revealed the story centres on a “deep, passionate relationship between these two young monks who have grown up together”.

Exactly who will portray the lovers remains under wraps, with character details for Connor, Ríos and Poulter yet to be officially revealed.

“I feel like it’s going to be a juicy film — and hopefully, a pretty terrifying one, too,” Tannahill said.

The film is another major queer project for Connor, who became a global star playing bisexual teenager Nick Nelson opposite Joe Locke’s Charlie Spring in Netflix phenomenon Heartstopper. It has since been reported that he will also be joining the Marvel universe in the future as the new Cyclops.

Ríos is also familiar to LGBTQIA+ audiences through his role as queer character Patrick Blanco in Netflix’s Élite and appearance in Pedro Almodóvar’s queer western Strange Way of Life.

Rapture was first announced in 2025, with recent production listings reportedly pointing to filming beginning in October in Hungary.

However, Poulter told The Guardian in August the project was then “on pause”, adding: “I really hope I can work with Jordan in the future; he’s so talented.”

No official release date has been announced.