Outside on the Fisher Island Ferry deck during Thursday's 3:30 p.m. run, a tense scene was simmering. A detective was — in cool, cagey fashion — questioning a college-aged guy about a missing woman.

Did he know her? Did he know she was pregnant? The suspect tried to hold a studiously placid demeanor and to sidestep queries. It wasn't until the cop finally turned and left that the young man's face fell — his lips tightened, his brow furrowed slightly, a flood of worry seeped over him.

And shooting the whole thing was a film crew.

Yes, the interrogation was part of a movie — "Tell-Tale Lies," the latest project from Rocky Hill-based Synthetic Cinema International. The company has become a bit of a fixture in the region: It shot some of its 2014 movie version of Wally Lamb's novel "Wishin' and Hopin'" in and around Norwich, as well as its 2011 zombie movie "Steve Niles' Remains."

"Tell-Tale Lies," as the title suggests, takes its inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story "Tell-Tale Heart" — as well as from the movie "Cruel Intentions," a Gen-Y adaptation of "Dangerous Liaisons." In this case, the story is a contemporary one, set in a rich coastal town in New England. A group of college students find themselves in the midst of schemes and intrigue after a classmate's death. And, yes, a tell-tale-heart sense of guilt plays into the drama.

Director Colin Theys, who also helmed "Wishin' and Hopin'," said that "Tell-Tale Lies" "has got kind of a dark tone. It's a thriller, but it's more of a noir thriller, really ... It's fun and dark, edgy but not really scary. It's not a horror film."

Synthetic co-owner and producer Andrew Gernhard — who is a Norwich native and a 1995 Norwich Free Academy graduate — said, "It's very stylized. It's a very young cast, with this paranoia and murder, so it's a thriller-mystery with a twist at the end, which (is the kind of movie) we haven't done — which is what got me the most interested in it."

The detective who was conducting the sly questioning on Thursday was actor Sean Patrick Thomas, who starred in "Save the Last Dance" and, yes, "Cruel Intentions." Last year, he made his Broadway debut in "A Raisin in the Sun" alongside Denzel Washington. He has worked with Synthetic before, in the 2014 thriller "Deep in the Darkness."

The suspicious young man trying to avoid the cop's pesky questions is played by Beau Mirchoff, a lead on MTV's "Awkward."

This, Gernhard noted, "is a young MTV cast that all the kids love."

Among the others: Alexa PenaVega, who played Carmen Cortez in the "Spy Kids" film series; Renee Olstead ("The Secret Life of the American Teenager"); and Michael Willett (MTV's "Faking It").

Featured, too, is veteran actor John Heard, whose credits include "Home Alone," "Big" and "Awakenings."

The whole movie shoot began on April 9. In addition to Thursday's scenes on the ferry and on the ferry pier in New London, the crew is filming at the 58-room, privately owned Elsinore Mansion in Pomfret; at Manchester Community College; and at a patio area in Norwich, near the Norwich Community Development Corp. offices.

Synthetic has, of course, done its share of filming before in Norwich and the surrounding area. Gernhard said, "Norwich and New London have that really interesting architecture. Both cities seem like movie sets, just the colors and design of them."

The Synthetic mainstays, who are all from Connecticut, have always wanted to shoot something on the water, according to Gernhard. This story provided the perfect opportunity.

"This film, we wanted to make rooted in New England. We wanted the shore, we wanted the mansions, we wanted even the wardrobe and what they do in the movie very New England shore. ... We want to push this whole mansion, money and shore stuff," he said.

Indeed, in the scenes shot Thursday, the lead character played by Mirchoff is taking the ferry to his family's island mansion.

The production team, which did two ferry runs, maximized its time, fitting in a whole range of shots. Among them were what they called "cat and mouse stuff"; in one bit, Mirchoff emerged from the ferry's interior, spied Thomas farther down on the deck and then ducked back inside.

During a break in filming, Mirchoff said he was drawn to the project in part because of the character he gets to play.

"I read (the script) and immediately had this gut feeling, this excitement. He's a narcissist, so I just had to look in the mirror," he said with a laugh. "No, I'm kidding. Getting to play someone so flawed and complicated and nuanced — that's the most exciting part."

Mirchoff spoke highly of the production, the producers and crew. The Vancouver native also raved about the experience of filming on the Fishers Island Ferry and getting to see the southeastern Connecticut coastline.

"I don't want to get off of (the ferry). It's really fun. It's beautiful. What a great part of the world," he said.

Synthetic held auditions for "Tell-Tale Lies" earlier this year at the Garde, but the company is looking for more extras for two upcoming scenes. One is a frat party in Pomfret and another is a masquerade party (or masquerave, as they're calling it) at Elsinore Mansion. Contact Synthetic via syntheticcinema.com.

The plan is for "Tell-Tale Lies" to initially get a limited theatrical release. A couple of TV networks and DVD platforms are interested in it beyond that, according to Gernhard.

Synthetic, which was founded a decade ago, made a name for itself in the horror genre but is now striving to move beyond that with releases like "Wishin' and Hopin'" and "Tell-Tale Lies."

"We're trying to get outside of our box, and it's working pretty well," Gernhard said.

k.dorsey@theday.com