“Everything’s a mess and I’m always the one who has to clean it up,” says Tessa Thompson in the first trailer for “Little Woods.” The well-received Tribeca pic sees the “Thor: Ragnarok” actress playing a woman facing a handful of crises in Little Woods, North Dakota. Ollie (Thompson) is trying to make it through her last few days of probation after getting caught running prescription pills over the border. A fresh start seems unlikely for Ollie: her mom is dying, her estranged sister (Lily James, “Cinderella”) is dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, and their mother’s house is about to be foreclosed on unless they can come up with the cash to settle the mortgage.
“As bills and pressure mount, Ollie faces a choice: whether to return to a way of life she thought she’d left behind for just one more score or to leave it all behind,” the film’s official synopsis details.
“Little Woods” marks writer-director Nia DaCosta’s feature debut. “It’s a film about choice in the face of few options and the lives of women in little seen parts of America,” she told us. “Part of what drew me to the story was my desire to explore a rural part of America that I was unfamiliar with and understand the lives of women in these spaces. When I found the oil boomtown, Williston, North Dakota, I knew that my story would need to take place in this part of the U.S. It was this quintessentially American space, an oil rush town, the wild west, where people go to live out the American Dream and where the promise is not met.” She hopes the film’s audiences will think about “the multiplicity of lives and experiences in America — how different we are, the relative privilege or disadvantages we experience, and our capacity for empathy.”
DaCosta has been hired to helm MGM’s “spiritual sequel” to 1992 horror film “Candyman.”
Thompson can currently be seen in theaters in “Creed 2.” Her slate includes “Men in Black: International,” set to bow June 14, and “Passing,” Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut.
“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” and “Baby Driver” are among James’ recent credits. She’s signed on to star in an upcoming adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s “Rebecca.”
“Little Woods” opens in select theaters April 19.
