Katie Holmes is going back to school (but don’t get too excited; it’s not Capeside High). The former Dawson’s Creek star will be roaming the halls as a teacher this time around in Miss Meadows, a thriller from writer-director Karen Leigh Hopkins (Stepmom, Because I Said So).
The trailer begins on an idyllic note, with Holmes as Miss Meadows clad in vintage-inspired clothing, playing hopscotch, and skipping down the street. A neighbor seems to confirm that Miss Meadows is as wholesome as she appears: “It is such a pleasure having you in the neighborhood. Ever since you moved here, things just feel different.” “For the better, I hope!” Miss Meadows perkily replies. The picture of perfection is then abruptly shattered when the camera cuts to a (dead) body hitting the ground. You see, Miss Meadows is a sweet schoolteacher by day — and a merciless vigilante by night.
As Miss Meadows explains, “There are bad people in the world, and they shouldn’t be around the good people — especially the little ones.” She’s made it her mission to ensure that the bad people stay away. This mission is of course a dangerous one. The trailer shows Meadows being questioned by the police and fighting for her own life in struggles with her victims.
In an interview with Women and Hollywood, Hopkins said, “I wrote this film as I contemplated having a child of my own, and bringing it into this often beautiful, sometimes brutal and cruel world. What would I teach my unborn child? How would I explain fear and courage — and kindness? At about the same time, an innocent little girl of 12 years old was abducted out of her bedroom slumber party and eventually killed. After a nationwide manhunt, he was found, and a news report suggested we be ‘compassionate’ toward him as he was the victim of abuse in the past. I’d always thought of myself as a liberal person but I wondered if we’d completely lost our marbles. Who, I wondered in my rage, could protect children and not worry about the politically correct grey area?”
Holmes shared with TheWrap: “I read the script about a year ago and got on the phone with Karen Leigh Hopkins. I thought it was a really quirky story and one that a lot of people could really connect to, along with this character…. It’s a bit of a stretch to take on a character who does this, but she’s also funny and I thought the script had a lot of charm.”
Miss Meadows will open in US theaters on November 14.
