“Ida” screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz has lined up her directorial debut — and an all-star cast to go with it. According to a press release, Jessie Buckley, Fiona Shaw, and Vicky Krieps have signed on to “Hot Milk,” Lenkiewicz’s adaptation of Deborah Levy’s 2016 bestseller. Production is planned to begin in September, and sales will be launched at the European Film Market by HanWay Films.
“Rose (Shaw) and her daughter Sofia (Buckley) travel to the Spanish seaside town of Almería to consult with the shamanic Dr. Gomez, a physician who could possibly hold the cure to Rose’s mystery illness,” the press release teases. “But in the sultry atmosphere of this sun-bleached town Sofia, who has been trapped by her mother’s illness all her life, finally starts to shed her inhibitions, enticed by the persuasive charms of enigmatic traveller Ingrid (Krieps). Sofia’s increased freedom becomes too much for her controlling mother, and as the hot sun beats down, their relationship simmers with pent-up resentments and bitterness, threatening to tear the fragile threads that hold them together, and leading them to a dramatic conclusion.”
Developed by Bonnie Productions and Film4, “Hot Milk” is being produced by Christine Langan (“The Queen”).
“I couldn’t ask for a bolder, more seductive script for Bonnie Productions’ first film than ‘Hot Milk,'” Langan said. “From Deborah Levy’s hypnotic, powerful novel of longing, guilt, and love, Rebecca has crafted a tense, visceral, cinematic script and brought together a magnificent triumvirate in Fiona, Jessie, and Vicky. It’s inspiring to work with this deep seam of female talent and to support Rebecca’s vision as director in bringing ‘Hot Milk’ to the big screen.”
“We are such fans of Rebecca’s incredible talent and it was a joy to work on ‘Colette,'” added Gabrielle Stewart of HanWay Films. “To be launching her debut as a director is a huge privilege and ‘Hot Milk’ fits perfectly alongside her incredible female driven body of work.”
Lenkiewicz’s screenwriting work includes “Disobedience,” “Colette,” and the upcoming biopic about the journalists who took down Harvey Weinstein, “She Said.” She is the first living female playwright who has had a work performed at the National’s Olivier Theatre. She received a European Film Award for penning “Ida.”
You can see Buckley now in Netflix’s “The Lost Daughter,” another drama about the complicated ties between mothers and daughters, for which she is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
Shaw, who appeared in “Colette,” will return for “Killing Eve’s” fourth and final season, which will kick off February 27 on BBC America. Her other recent credits include “Baptiste” and “Ammonite.”
“Bergman Island” and “Old” are among Krieps’ more recent projects. She is up for a César Award this year for “Serre moi fort.”
