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Nearly three years have passed since it was first announced that Abbey Lee (Old) and Christopher Abbott (Possessor) had signed on to star in the Australian Outback thriller Fear Is the Rider, which is coming to us from John Michael McDonagh, the BAFTA-nominated writer/director of the 2011 film The Guard… and while the project has lost Abbott in that time, it’s still alive, and Abbey Lee is still attached to star in it. Deadline reports that Lee has now been joined in the cast by Ben Mendelsohn (Star Wars: Rogue One), Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders), and Eliza Scanlen (Babyteeth). Film Constellation and CAA Media Finance will be seeking distribution deals at this week’s American Film Market.

McDonagh’s plan is to make a trilogy of Fear Is the Rider thrillers – and if you look at the synopses provided, you’ll see that the current version of the film...

The 45th American Film Market launches tonight in a new host city, Las Vegas, amid the tension and distraction of a hotly contested U.S. presidential election.

Despite last year’s edition being beset by logistical challenges, organizer IFTA (Independent Film & Television Alliance) says office and exhibition space is sold out this go around. They hope the bright lights of Vegas can add fun to proceedings and that a bunched conference and screening offering can focus attention.

But the venue change from AFM’s longtime Santa Monica home to the Palms Casino Resort is a big move and has its share of critics — who must now add a leg to their trip for meetings in Los Angeles, or who just don’t find it a suitable venue for dealmaking, or who are anxious about the election this year.

“High-end independent films need to be presented to the market in...

It looks like John Michael McDonagh‘s “Fear Is The Rider” isn’t the only genre pic starring Ben Mendelsohn at the America Film Market. Deadline reports that Mendelsohn is attached to star opposite Anthony Ramos in “Molepeople” a NYC-set horror flick from director Rob Savage. And yes, the title should give away the set-up for this one.

Read More: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

Here’s the pitch for “Molepeople” making the rounds at AFM: “one man’s nightmarish descent into the abandoned tunnels beneath the streets of New York City, where a twisted society lurks.” So imagine “C.H.U.D.

Continue reading ‘Molepeople’: Anthony Ramos & Ben Mendelsohn To Star In Upcoming NYC Horror Pic at The Playlist.

Fear is the Rider, described as an ode to “gore-drenched Ozploitation slashers of the 1970s,” sees a woman pursued in the Australian Outback by a pack of ruthless serial killers. While that already has our attention, Deadline reports the nod to gory slashers has lined up an impressive cast so far.

Ben Mendelsohn (Star Wars: Rogue One), Abbey Lee, Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders) and Eliza Scanlen (Caddo Lake) have been cast in lead roles.

As for plot, the film follows “a lone woman, searching for her missing mother, who is pursued into the Australian Outback by a terrifying family of serial killers, with only an ex-con and a young girl willing to help her.”

Fear is the Rider is an adaptation of the novel The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser, written and directed by John Michael McDonagh‘s (The Guard).

Daniel Henshall (Mickey 17), Brenton Thwaites (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales...

Is this the buzziest thriller at the American Film Market this year? Deadline reports that John Michael McDonagh‘s “Fear Is The Rider” is in Las Vegas looking for deals. And with its cast and premise, the film will get snatched up fast: this ode to Ozploitation sounds too good for anyone to pass up.

Read More: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

Based on Gabriel Bergmoser‘s novel “The Hunted,” “Fear Is The Rider” follows a lone woman in the Australian outback looking for her missing mother who starts getting stalked by a family of serial killers.

Continue reading ‘Fear Is The Rider’: Ben Mendelsohn, Abbey Lee, Toby Wallace & Eliza Scanlen To Star In John Michael McDonagh’s Aussie Thriller at The Playlist.

Screen Internationalis rounding up the key projects launched before and during this year’s American Film Market (AFM), which runsNovember 5-10 at thePalms Casino Resort.

Refresh the page for latest updates.

Misty Green

Chris Rock will direct and star in the story of a talented actress with a habit of getting in her own way. She is offered the role of a lifetime from a director. The only snag is they have history. FromMACRO Film Studios and Confluential Films.

Sales: Neon International

Paper Tiger

Adam Driver, Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway will star for James Gray in the crime drama,...

Exclusive: Heading into the American Film Market, Film Constellation and CAA Media Finance will be looking to scare up deals on writer-director John Michael McDonagh’s (The Guard) Fear Is The Rider.

An adaptation of the novel The Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser, the team has attached Ben Mendelsohn (Star Wars: Rogue One) Abbey Lee (Horizons: An American Saga), Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders) and Eliza Scanlen (Babyteeth) in lead roles.

In a nod to the gore-drenched Ozploitation slashers of the 1970s, the film follows a lone woman, searching for her missing mother, who is pursued into the Australian Outback by a terrifying family of serial killers, with only an ex-con and a young girl willing to help her.

Pic is being produced by McDonagh and Elizabeth Eves’ House of Un-American Activities (The Forgiven), Trevor Matthews and Nick Gordon of Brookstreet Pictures (The Brutalist) and Kate Glover (Foe). The film is set...

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Wolfs is a buddy action comedy thriller film written and directed by Jon Watts. The Apple TV+ film is inspired by a real-life Hollywood fixer Paul Barresi and it revolves around two professional fixers who like to work alone but both of them are hired individually for the same job, they must team up to avoid some deadly consequences. Wolfs stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the lead roles with Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan, and Zlatko Burić starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the buddy comedies aspect, a bit of action, and two magnetic leads in Wolfs here are some similar movies you should check out next.

The Nice Guys (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Warner Bros.

The Nice Guys is a neo-noir buddy action comedy thriller directed by Shane Black who also...

Greedy People is a dark comedy crime mystery film directed by Potsy Ponciroli from a screenplay by Michael Vukadinovich. The 2024 film is set in a small town and follows two cops as they try to investigate a murder scene where they find a large sum of money and decide to keep it, but their peaceful lives get filled with chaos because of their one bad decision. Greedy People stars Himesh Patel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead roles with Lily James, Traci Lords, Joey Lauren Adams, and Simon Rex starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the dark comedy, moral ambiguity, and absurd characters in Greedy People here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Fargo Credit – MGM

Fargo is a dark comedy crime thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The 1996 film follows Jerry, a down-and-out sales manager in a lot of debt to some dangerous people.

The Irish Film And TV Academy (IFTA) has revealed this year’s nominees for the Screen Ireland – IFTA Rising Star award.

The five nominees are Agnes O’Casey, Alison Oliver, Ian Hunt-Duffy, Kwaku Fortune, and Siobhán Cullen.

Previous winners of the IFTA Rising Star Award include Saoirse Ronan, Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, John Michael McDonagh, Sarah Greene, Gerard Barrett, and Jamie Dornan.

Announcing the nominees, Áine Moriarty, Chief Executive of the Irish Film and Television Academy, said this year’s group of Rising Stars represents a “brilliant new wave of Irish talent who are proving themselves to be world-class screen professionals.”

“This prestigious Award has recognized many great...

Exclusive: Bluestone Entertainment has preemptively acquired rights to “Support Group for the Formerly Possessed,” an original horror short story written for Assemble Media by J. Preston Witt, with plans to produce a feature adaptation alongside Assemble.

Scribes set to adapt the pic are Andrew Deutschman and Jason Pagan, the duo behind Paramount’s found footage title Project Almanac, as well as Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.

In Support Group, a patient, charged with a murder they cannot remember, finds themselves subjected to a 5150 psychiatric hold in an institution. There, they uncover a chilling truth: the facility is dedicated to treating disorders that stem from supernatural causes.

The Assemble team came up with the original concept before developing it into a short story, featured in the third edition of its genre-focused quarterly short story magazine Assemble Artifacts, which is published through Blackstone Publishing. Producers of the adaptation will include Richard Saperstein for Bluestone,...

Exclusive: Vertical on Wednesday announced their appointment of former Amazon Prime Video exec Jason Pecora to the newly created role of Executive Vice President, Distribution.

The L.A.-based Pecora will be responsible for overseeing Sales, Marketing and Operations. He begins immediately, reporting to Vertical Partners Peter Jarowey and Rich Goldberg.

Pecora spent more than four and a half years as Senior Content Acquisition Manager at Prime Video, during that time overseeing all title promotions with leading suppliers including Vertical, Paramount, Viacom, Lionsgate, MGM and AMC. Notably, he last year oversaw Amazon’s release of Top Gun: Maverick, which was the top-selling item on the platform in the U.S. across every category on the day of its release.

Pecora has, over his 14 years in entertainment, consistently succeeded in growing businesses and contributing significant returns on investment through strong industry relationships. He previously focused on the digital home entertainment space...

The Irish Film And TV Academy (IFTA) have revealed this year’s nominees for the Screen Ireland – IFTA Rising Star award.

The five nominees are Aoife McArdle (Director – Severance), Danielle Galligan (Actor – Lakelands), Daryl McCormack, Éanna Hardwicke (Actor – Lakelands), and Kathryn Ferguson (Director – Nothing Compares).

Previous winners of the IFTA Rising Star Award include Saoirse Ronan, Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, John Michael McDonagh, Sarah Greene, Gerard Barrett, and Jamie Dornan.

Announcing the nominees, the Irish Academy said this year’s group of Rising Stars represents a new “vanguard of the next wave of Irish Screen Talent.”

“Ireland has recently enjoyed a record-breaking year in terms of film and television production. The past year saw Irish directors, writers, producers, cast, and crew create world-class stories that have engaged audiences around the globe,” the statement read.

Selected by a special jury, the winner...

Exclusive: Brian Cox (Succession), Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone), Brooklynn Prince (Cocaine Bear) and Che Tafari (Me Time) are set to lead Little Wing, a new Paramount+ coming-of-age film from Awesomeness, which DGA Award nominee Dean Israelite (Are You Afraid of the Dark?) is directing from a script by Oscar nom John Gatins (Flight).

The film now in production in Oregon, which has been a passion project for Israelite over the past decade, is inspired by the New Yorker article of the same name by Susan Orlean. This is the story of Kaitlyn (Prince), a 13-year-old girl who, reeling from her parents’ divorce and the pending loss of her home, is drawn into the world of pigeon racing. She hopes to solve her family’s financial woes by stealing a valuable bird, but instead forms a bond with the owner who cultivates her love of the sport.

Cox plays Jaan, the pigeon racer,...

Exclusive: Sony‘s Screen Gems is in very early development on a Paradise Court film based on the horror comic book series from Zenescope Entertainment, and has enlisted Assemble Media to produce it, Deadline has learned.

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Created by Zenescope’s CEO Joe Brusha, Paradise Court takes its name from a luxurious and exclusive gated community where beneath an idyllic facade lies a deadly secret — all the residents are serial killers with unique proclivities and manicured lawns cut as sharp as the knives in their kitchens.

The project was brought to Screen Gems by Jack Heller and Assemble Media. Assemble principal Heller will produce,...

When the Oscar nominations came out earlier this year, we saw the literal luck of the Irish (at least in terms of nods). For starters, British-Irish filmmaker Martin McDonagh’s acclaimed black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin garnered nine nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor for Colin Farrell, and Best Original Screenplay. Additionally, the in-demand heartthrob Paul Mescal earned a Best Actor nomination for Aftersun while The Quiet Girl represents Ireland in Best International Feature, becoming the country’s first film to do so.

It was a good day in January for Irish representation, although how things shook out later on Oscar night might be the flip side of that luck.

Nonetheless, to mark this particular occasion, along with St. Patrick’s Day, below is a list of eleven recommended modern films that are at least co-produced by Ireland and which chiefly take place on the Emerald Isle for those...

Hollywood directors — specifically Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and James Cameron — have a long tradition of taking out full-page adverts congratulating each other when one of their films beats the other’s to take the box office crown.

In Ireland, things are done a little differently, or at least they are for Jim Sheridan.

For the last 34 years, the renowned director has held the record for being behind the Irish film with the most Oscar nominations, first with 1989’s My Left Foot, with five, and then 1993’s In the Name of the Father with seven (which was, technically, matched by Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast in 2022). But this year, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin smashed that record with nine nominations, prompting Sheridan to send him a note.

“I emailed Martin, saying he was a bastard for breaking the record,” Sheridan tells The Hollywood Reporter, speaking from the sidelines of the...

Irish producer Flynn also worked on ‘The Last Duel’, ‘Calvary’.

Irish producer James Flynn of Metropolitan Films, whose credits include the Bafta and Oscar-nominated The Banshees Of Inisherin, has died aged 57 following an illness.

Flynn founded production company Metropolitan Films in 1997 with his wife Juanita Wilson, and had credits through the company on titles including Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel and hit romantic comedies P.S. I Love You and Love Rosie.

His death was first reported in The Irish Times.

Flynn was a co-producer on Martin McDonagh’s drama The Banshees Of Inisherin for Searchlight Pictures. It has...

Irish film producer James Flynn has died. He was 57 and his death was reported by the Irish Times, which did not provide details.

Credited on Alan Parker’s Angela’s Ashes, Joel Schumacher’s Veronica Guerin and John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary, Flynn was a part of the reconstituted Irish Film Board.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story London Critics' Circle Awards: 'The Banshees of Inisherin' & 'Tár' Win Top Prizes Related Story 'Everything Everywhere All At Once,' 'Women Talking' Among Oscar Best Picture Nominees Rallying At Weekend Box Office

The news comes as Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, on which Flynn worked as co-producer, has nine Oscar nominations for next month’s Academy Awards.

Oscar-nominated producer Ed Guiney, who worked with Flynn on Sweety Barrett more than two decades ago, remembered him for the Irish Times.

Working at the opposite end of the spectrum to Baz Luhrmann, Ireland’s John Carney seems content to make low-key, localized musicals that are almost custom-sized for Sundance. True, some fingers were burned when, perhaps emboldened by the slow-burn success of 2007’s Once, he hired a big star (Keira Knightley), filmed in New York, and endured the full horror of a hands-on Harvey Weinstein release for the bigger-budgeted follow-up, Begin Again, in 2013. After whatever went down on that film, however, he returned to Ireland with a bunch of largely unknown actors for his next and arguably best so far: Sing Street (2016), an underrated romantic comedy about a young man (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) trying to find his identity through his love of music.

The good news about Flora and Son is that it is firmly in the tradition of Sing Street, with edgier humor — unusually dark jokes of the kind that pepper...

Vertical has secured North American rights to comedy “Who Invited Charlie?,” written by Nicholas Schutt and directed by Xavier Manrique (“Chronically Metropolitan”).

The film stars Adam Pally (“Sonic the Hedgehog 2”), Jordana Brewster (Fast & Furious franchise), Reid Scott (“Veep”), Xosha Roquemore, (“The Mindy Project”) Dylan Penn (“Flag Day”), Peter Dager (“Insidious 5”), Peter Grosz (“Late Night with Seth Meyers”), Rhys Coiro (“Paradise City”) and more.

In the film, Phil Schreiber (Scott), a self-involved hedge fund manager, and his wife Rosie (Brewster) take refuge in the Hamptons with their son at the beginning of quarantine. Making an already fraught situation worse is the surprise arrival of Phil’s cocktail-swilling, pot-smoking college roommate Charlie (Pally). Charlie is also the keeper of some of Phil’s darkest secrets. To make matters worse for Phil, his wife and son love Charlie. As Charlie makes himself at home, secrets are revealed that threaten to do more harm than good.

Exclusive: Vertical has secured North American rights to the MPI Original Film Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, starring BAFTA- and Tony Award-nominated West Side Story breakout Mike Faist and Teen Wolf‘s Crystal Reed, slating it for a day-and-date release on March 17, 2023.

The film based on a true story centers on Roger Sharpe (Faist), a GQ journalist and real-life pinball wizard who, in 1976, helped overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball.

An unsettled writer with a fantastic mustache, Sharpe finds solace and confidence in the one thing he has mastered: pinball. When a police raid destroys the only machines he can find in 1970s New York City, he learns the game is illegal in the state. Roger then reluctantly joins forces with the Music and Amusement Association to overturn the ban while falling in love with Ellen (Reed), an artist and single mother. Roger’s path...

The searing drama The Forgiven is being released on DVD & Blu-ray on 12th December and to celebrate we are giving away a Blu-ray. Written by John Michael McDonagh and based on the bestselling book by Lawrence Osborne, The Forgiven is an unflinching look at the perils of Great Gatsby-esque Western decadence that recalls the likes of White Mischief and The Sheltering Sky, and Variety describes as a “thorny modern parable”.

Award-winning director McDonagh has lined up a formidable cast for his powerful tale of tragedy and redemption set in Morocco. Leading actors Ralph Fiennes (BAFTA-winner for Schindler’s List) and Jessica Chastain (Oscar-winner for The Eyes of Tammy Faye) are joined by Matt Smith (House of the Dragon), Christopher Abbott (Possessor), Abby Lee (The Neon Demon), Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out) and Saïd Taghmaoui (Wonder Woman) for a compulsive drama that plays out against a foreboding desert backdrop.

Speeding through the...

John Michael McDonagh's gorgeous adaptation of the Lawrence Osborne book is a thing any serious film collector will treasure, and there's plenty to discover on rewatching it, time after time. The only other thing on this disc is the theatrical trailer, but it's still a good purchase.

The one criticism due here concerns the scene selection system, which is pretty to look at but tricky to use. Ultimately, you're as well just to play the film and skip through it to find what you want. This is a minor issue, however....

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has secured North American rights to the horror feature Lullaby, directed by Annabelle‘s John R. Leonetti, from its financier Alcon Entertainment, slating it for release in select theaters and on VOD on December 16.

Pic follows a new mother who discovers a lullaby in an ancient book and regards the song as a blessing. But her world transforms into a nightmare when the lullaby brings forth the ancient demon Lilith. Oona Chaplin (Avatar franchise) and Ramón Rodríguez (The Affair) lead the cast, which also includes Liane Balaban (You Can Live Forever), Kira Guloien (Women Talking) and Moni Ogunsuyi (The Umbrella Academy).

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Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has picked up U.S. rights to Misanthrope, a psychological thriller marking the first English-feature from BAFTA-winning Argentinian director Damián Szifron (Wild Tales). The indie distributor has slated the film starring Emmy nominee Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies), Emmy winner Ben Mendelsohn (The Outsider) and Emmy nominee Jovan Adepo (Babylon) for release exclusively in theaters nationwide in the first half of 2023.

The film written by Szifron and Jonathan Wakeham picks up in Baltimore on New Year’s Eve, as a talented but troubled police officer (Woodley) is recruited by the FBI’s chief investigator (Mendelsohn) to help profile and track down a mass murderer.

Related Story Samuel Goldwyn Films Acquires Swedish Oscar Entry ‘Cairo Conspiracy’ For North America Related Story Vertical Entertainment Appoints Francois Martin To New Role Of Senior Vice President, Content Partnerships Related Story Vertical Entertainment Acquires Multi-Generational Rom-Com 'Maybe I Do' Starring Diane Keaton,...

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has appointed former Aviron and The Weinstein Company executive Francois Martin to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Content Partnerships.

Martin will now be responsible for leading and expanding the indie distributor’s content sales presence across all platforms. He’s already assumed the post and will report going forward to Vertical Partners Peter Jarowey and Rich Goldberg.

Martin began his career in Miramax’s marketing department, transitioning to The Weinstein Company upon its founding in 2005. His decade-plus spent at that then-prestigious studio saw him rise through the ranks from Senior Director, Marketing to President, Marketing Strategy for both TWC and the Miramax label, Dimension Films.

The exec has previously worked on marketing campaigns for such notable films as Kill Bill, Chicago, Spy Kids, Scary Movie, Lee Daniel’s The Butler, Django Unchained, Inglorious Basterds, The King’s Speech, Paddington and Silver Linings Playbook, among others.

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to the multi-generational romantic comedy Maybe I Do, starring Diane Keaton (Mack & Rita), Richard Gere (Arbitrage), Susan Sarandon (Monarch), William H. Macy (The Conners), Emma Roberts (About Fate) and Luke Bracey (Elvis), from the global film and television studio Fifth Season, formerly known as Endeavor Content.

The first feature written and directed by Oscar nominee Michael Jacobs (Quiz Show) will be released exclusively in theaters nationwide on January 27, 2023.

Maybe I Do follows Michelle (Roberts) and Allen (Bracey), who have reached the point in their relationship where they are considering the next steps and decide to invite their parents to finally meet. The parents already know each other well – really well – leading to distinct and defining opinions about the value of marriage.

Maybe I Do was financed and produced by Fifth Season and marks the latest in a line of successful collaborations between the studio and Vertical,...

“Bridgerton” star Phoebe Dynevor and “Aftersun” writer-director Charlotte Wells are among the emerging talents recognized at the British Independent Film Awards’ (BIFA) New Talent categories.

Dynevor has been longlisted in the Breakthrough Performance category for Sky film “The Colour Room” and Wells twice, in the Debut Director and Debut Screenwriter categories.

In all, 28 fiction and 14 documentary features have been longlisted, including in a new category for BIFA’s 25th year, Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary. Eleven first-time fiction feature directors, 16 first-time documentary feature directors, 14 first-time writers, 20 breakthrough producers and 15 new performers have been recognized by BIFA voters for their achievements.

BIFA’s Springboard scheme will provide a tailored program of continuing professional development, with seven of this year’s longlisted filmmakers joining the cohort of 30 filmmakers on the Film4 supported initiative.

The final five nominations in each category will be announced on Nov. 4 and winners will be revealed at the...

I went into The Banshees of Inisherin expecting something special. The last time writer/director Martin McDonagh worked with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson resulted in In Bruges (2008), by far McDonagh's best film. The Banshess of Inisherin proved to be more than special. It's one of the very best films of the year. In fact, I'll say it. It's a stronger film overall than even In Bruges. I would place it alongside his brother John Michael McDonagh's Calvary (2014) and call it a perfect double feature. One is about friendship and the other about faith but both take place in an Ireland where either of those things can be about life and death. Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) are two lifelong friends on...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Martin McDonagh is the rare storyteller celebrated on the stage and screen alike, a fusion he loves to discuss.

“I always preferred movies to plays,” he told me in a recent conversation I moderated with the writer-director at the Hamptons Film Festival, shortly before a screening of “The Banshees of Inisherin,” his fourth feature. “The plays I saw as a kid were very dull.” He added under his breath, with acute comic timing, “I grew up in England.”

The crowd roared. Yet McDonagh’s roots are more complicated than that, and that complexity sits at the root of his work, never with more prominence than it does in “Banshees.” His first movie set in Ireland in almost 20 years relates back to his youth, and wrestles with deep questions about national identity, whether he wants to talk about it or not.

As the child of Irish parents who took their son back to their homeland,...

Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain play a couple en route to a weekend of debauchery in the desert in this morality tale from John Michael McDonagh

Beneath the garishly brittle portrait of ghastly westerners lording it up in Morocco, there’s a low-key, brooding quality to this accomplished if somewhat inert screen adaptation of Lawrence Osborne’s 2012 bestseller. Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, whose screen CV includes The Guard (2011), Calvary (2014) and War on Everyone (2016), it’s an anxiously moralist tale of crime and punishment, revenge and resolution, played out against a broad-strokes, culture-clash backdrop that brings a tang of spiteful satire to the deeper discussions of good and evil.

“It’s a long way to go for a party, but then they’re more your friends than mine.” So says David (Ralph Fiennes), a British doctor with a blemished record whom we first meet aboard a boat to “l’Afrique” with his wife,...

’The Forgiven’ and ‘Fall’ are also out this weekend.

After last weekend’s UK-Ireland box office results proved rather muted – no film reached the £1m mark for the first time since December 2020 – exhibitors and distributors will be anticipating a boost from this Saturday’s National Cinema Day (September 3), in which 560 venues across the UK will be offering tickets at just £3, for all screenings.

This weekend’s widest release comes from Entertainment Film Distributors’ Three Thousand Years Of Longing, playing in 545 cinemas. The Cannes 2022 premiere unites Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba and is George Miller’s first feature since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

Fans of John Michael McDonagh should find much to love in the writer/director’s fourth feature, The Forgiven, but it lacks the refined structure, likeable characters and charred heart of his earlier work.

Based on a novel by Lawrence Osborne, The Forgiven tells the tale of stuck-up, married couple, David (Ralph Fiennes) and Jo (Jessica Chastain), who travel to Morocco to attend a lavish party thrown by wealthy friends, Richard (Matt Smith) and Dally (Caleb Landry Jones). En route, David accidentally runs over a teenage boy, Driss (Omar Ghazaoui), and is forced to face repercussions of the event while partying with pals. The police are convinced it was an accident but when the late boy’s father, Abdellah (Ismael Kanetar) arrives, David is forced to accompany him to help bury his son and face further consequences.

McDonagh’s latest is, for the most part, engrossing with striking performances from its A-list cast,...

Director John Michael McDonagh, author Lawrence Osborne and the stars of the film discuss personal salvation, simplistic critics and why ‘you can’t build a culture out of non-stop moral hysteria’

Everyone loved John Michael McDonagh’s first film, The Guard, with Brendan Gleeson as a sloshed cop. They admired his second, Calvary, in which Gleeson played a priest reconciled to his own murder. His third, a black comedy with Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Peña, was mostly loathed. McDonagh anticipated these reactions, he says in a pub in south London. He had assumed people would like his first two, “and War on Everyone was meant to be divisive”.

So he would be forgiven for having felt perky before the premiere last year of his fourth film. “I love watching the film!” he says. It’s an old-fashioned noir: tense, starry, good-looking. “So I was like: Everyone’s going to love it.

Dir: John Michael McDonagh. Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Ismael Kanater, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbey Lee. 18, 117 minutes.

At what point does art’s stubborn (though not invalid) fascination with the inner mechanics of terrible people cross a line, and begin demanding we show mercy towards the truly irredeemable among us? It’s the problem that lies at the heart of The Forgiven, a somewhat on-the-nose title for a film that lines up for us a miniature troupe of the wealthy and perversely bigoted at leisure in Morocco, who feel free to say horrific things about the local population because they’re shielded behind the walls of a literal castle. The only Moroccans they speak to on a daily basis are the ones whose wages they pay. We watch these one-percenters scurry about like termites, spewing their awfulness, before one of their number undergoes a moral awakening and we...

10 films were competing for the Powell and Pressburger award.

Scottish animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson’s 60-minutes documentary A Cat Called Dom has won the inaugural Powell and Pressburger Award for best film at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Anderson and Henderson star in and co-direct the inventive documentary, which had its world premiere at Eiff. The film explores how Will deals with his mother’s cancer diagnosis and also the frustrations of trying to make a film.

The jury, comprised of president Gaylene Gould (founder of creative lab The Space to Come), producer Rosie Crerar and author Sarah Winman,...

Photo: ‘The Forgiven’ The People of the Worlds ‘The Forgiven’ gets most of its juice from the tension between its two worlds: the sneering, hollow world of the Western elitists and the conservative culture of the Muslim Moroccans. It’s a familiar device, but the mileage writer/director John Michael McDonagh squeezes from it is noteworthy. These two worlds meet, unfortunately, with a bang, as the bickering Henniger couple speeds their way across the desert on the way to an old-school friend’s Moroccan compound. The friend, Richard (played by a wickedly good Matt Smith), is hosting a weekend of intemperance for him and all his sophisticated friends. David (a brilliant Ralph Fiennes) and Jo (a merely ornamental Jessica Chastain) are arguing about David’s alcoholism, in the routine sort of way indicative of a failed marriage, when they hit a boy selling fossils on the side of the road.

Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes in The Forgiven. Photo credit: Sife Elamine. Courtesy of Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment

Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes star as a wealthy couple who travel to Morocco for a posh weekend party at a remote desert location but when driving to their destination, they hit a local teen-aged boy in a fatal accident, with unforeseen and devastating consequences, in The Forgiven.

White privilege, particularly of the variety afforded the rich, is at the center of this thoughtful, thriller-like drama, as it explores the clash of cultures between these affluent Brits and the boy’s impoverished Bedouin family, as well as the toll it takes on the couple’s already rocky marriage.

We first meet the wealthy couple on a luxury speed boat streaking towards the Moroccan coast. David Henninger is a successful British plastic surgeon and Jo Henninger is his American wife, who was...

The Forgiven Review — The Forgiven (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by John Michael McDonagh, written by John Michael McDonagh and Lawrence Osborne and starring Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Abbey Lee, Caleb Landry Jones, Christopher Abbott, Alex Jennings, Marie-Josee Croze, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Said Taghmaoul, David McSavage, Mourad Zaoui, Ismael Kanater, Imane [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: The Forgiven (2021): Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain Are in Top Form in a Stylish Dramatic Thriller...

The Forgiven with Jessica Chastain opens in 122 theaters this weekend as the flow of indie films continues to build with well-reviewed, festival-pedigreed product including Mr. Malcolm’s List and Clara Sola. Meanwhile, producers and most other U.S. businesses are hoping economic storm clouds won’t ding their industry’s nascent revival.

“I think we have seen a slow recovery. We are feeling bullish,” said Howard Cohen, co-president of The Forgiven distributor Roadside Attractions. He cited a helpful “knockoff effect” from popular wide releases Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick, where a significant chunk of the audience is an arthouse-friendly 55 and over. He’s talking about moviegoing, a great value for people during economic slowdowns when box office grosses have tended to rise. But down the chain, higher inflation, “while it doesn’t mean movies won’t get made, will affect decision making and things may be more complicated,” said Cohen.

This review of “The Forgiven” first appeared when the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021.

A dark and dirty morality play where nobody’s very concerned with morals, John Michael McDonagh’s “The Forgiven” takes some extremely questionable behavior and makes it as intriguing as it is off-putting. There’s a lot of despicable stuff going on in this efficiently nasty drama from the Irish writer-director of “The Guard” and “Cavalry,” but in the hands of McDonagh, Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, you may actually find yourself caring for these people more than they care for themselves.

The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021, is a timely piece of work based on Lawrence Osborne’s 2012 novel — it may focus on first-world problems, but that doesn’t stop it from delving into issues of white privilege, colonialism, casual racism and the conflict between the West and the Arab world.

At a time when western cinema is in its most self-consciously liberal mode ever, it’s hard not to have mixed feelings about John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven, yet another treatise on decaying whiteness amidst the remnants of colonialism—something in the mode of Alejandro González Iñárritu or Michael Haneke’s audience-hectoring tracts, but with less heaviness and a bit more “movie-movie” gloss to make it go down a bit easier.

Based on a 2012 bestseller that must’ve been considered something like a modern iteration of Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky, we find David (Ralph Fiennes) and Jo (Jessica Chastain), an unhappily married rich couple, on getaway in Morocco to attend a lavish countryside party of various prominent white people from across the western world. As managed by an old money yet fresh-faced bickering gay couple (Matt Smith and Caleb Landry Jones), likely a high percentage of the intended...

Universal Pictures has pushed back the wide theatrical release for the Illumination film Migration from Friday, June 30, 2023 to Friday, Dec, 22, 2023.

Migration was set to open on its prior date against Disney’s Indiana Jones 5. On its new opening weekend, it will open against titles including Disney’s Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and an Untitled Star Trek Sequel from Paramount Pictures.

Migration is billed as a modern-day comedy following a family of ducks who convince their over-protective father to go on the vacation of a lifetime as they attempt to migrate from New England, through New York City, and ultimately down to the Bahamas. Oscar nominee Benjamin Renner (Ernest et Célestine) is directing the pic from an original screenplay by Mike White. Illumination founder Chris Meledandri is serving as its producer.

Universal most recently released Amblin’s Jurassic World Dominion and Blumhouse’s horror The Black Phone.

Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have acquired North American rights to the romantic drama The Good House from Amblin Partners, in association with Participant. The film based on Ann Leary’s New York Times bestseller is heading to the Tribeca Film Festival for its U.S. premiere in June 18, and will hit theaters via Roadside on September 30.

The Good House follows Hildy Good (three-time Oscar nom Sigourney Weaver), a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches, who loves her wine and her secrets. Her compartmentalized life begins to unravel as she rekindles a romance with her old high-school flame, Frank Getchell (Oscar winner Kevin Kline), and becomes dangerously entwined in one person’s reckless behavior. Igniting long-buried emotions and family secrets, Hildy is propelled toward a reckoning with the one person she’s been avoiding for decades: herself.

The film acquired by Lionsgate and Roadside marks the third collaboration between Weaver and Kline,...

Frédéric Boyer on Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn’s Official Competition, starring Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, and Oscar Martínez: “Extraordinary! It’s like a Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn type of slapstick” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the second installment with Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer we discuss Joachim Back’s Corner Office, John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven, David Frankel’s Jerry and Marge Go Large, Paul Dektor’s American Dreamer, Andrew Bujalski’s There, There, Annette K Olesen’s A Matter Of Trust, Kyra Sedgwick’s Space Oddity, Katie Holmes’s Alone Together, Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner, Clara Stern’s Breaking The Ice, and Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn’s Official Competition (Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar...

The Forgiven Trailer — John Michael McDonagh‘s The Forgiven (2021) movie trailer has been released by RoadsideFlix. The Forgiven trailer stars Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Ismael Kanater, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbey Lee, Saïd Taghmaoui, and Christopher Abbott. Crew John Michael McDonagh wrote the screenplay for The Forgiven. Lorne Balfe created the music [...]

Continue reading: The Forgiven (2021) Movie Trailer: Ralph Fiennes & Jessica Chastain Deal with The Consequences of a Tragedy at a Lavish Party...

Universal Pictures has debuted a new trailer for the Jessica Chastain led movie ‘The Forgiven.’

Speeding through the Moroccan desert to attend an old friend’s lavish weekend party, wealthy Londoners David and Jo Henninger (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain) are involved in a tragic accident with a local teenage boy. Arriving late at the grand villa with the debauched party raging, the couple attempts to cover up the incident with the collusion of the local police. But when the boy’s father arrives seeking justice, the stage is set for a tension-filled culture clash in which David and Jo must come to terms with their fateful act and its shattering consequences.

Based on the novel by Lawrence Osbourne, the film is written and directed by John Michael McDonagh and stars Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes, Matt Smith, Caleb Laundry Jones, Christopher Abbot and Said Taghmaoui.

Also in trailers – Kenneth Branagh...

Before Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges reunion The Banshees of Inisherin arrives this fall, the latest from his brother John Michael McDonagh, The Forgiven, opens this summer. Despite a TIFF premiere that seemed to go under the radar last fall, the proposition of Ralph Fiennes back in the McDonagh family—alongside Jessica Chastain, Caleb Landry Jones, Christopher Abbott, and Matt Smith—has us quite intrigued. Ahead of a July 1 release, the first trailer has now arrived.

Speeding through the Moroccan desert to attend an old friend’s lavish weekend party, wealthy Londoners David and Jo Henninger (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain) are involved in a tragic accident with a local teenage boy. Arriving late at the grand villa with the debauched party raging, the couple attempts to cover up the incident with the collusion of the local police. But when the boy’s father arrives seeking justice, the stage is...

A trailer for John Michael McDonagh's "The Forgiven" is here, and things take a dark, murky turn from the get-go. McDonagh is back with a thriller that highlights class divides -- specifically, the ever-widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots. 

"The Forgiven" is an adaptation of Lawrence Osbourne's scathing novel about wealthy westerners who are used to sailing through life sans consequences. They are finally forced to reckon with their actions after Ralph Fiennes' character drunkenly runs over a man in the Moroccan desert, and his family show up to claim the body and deliver justice.

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The post The Forgiven Trailer: A Wealthy Couple Is Forced to Face Consequences They Can't Run From appeared first on /Film.