EXCLUSIVE: Here’s some neat casting. Zoë Kravitz (The Batman) and Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace) are set to lead psychological horror film Self-Portrait which Mona Fastvold (The World To Come) will direct from a script she co-wrote with Brady Corbet (Vox Lux).
The movie will see grieving photographer Lu Rile (McKenzie) move to a run-down artists’ warehouse in 1990s Brooklyn where she befriends Katherine (Kravitz), an accomplished painter who lives downstairs. When Katherine suffers her own tragic loss, Lu unknowingly captures the incident in one of her self-portraits, generating a sublime but horrifying image. Consumed with by mutual grief and an intensifying relationship, the women find themselves haunted by a demonic force hellbent on shaking their realities.
The film is based on Rachel Lyon’s debut novel Self-Portrait With Boy. WME Independent will launch international sales at Cannes with CAA and UTA handling domestic rights. Production is currently slated for later this year.
Producers are John Lyons, with whom Topic developed the project, and Picture Films’ Margot Hand who recently collaborated with Topic on Randall Park’s Sundance debut Shortcomings.
Executive producers are Ryan Heller, Jennifer Westin and Michael Bloom for Topic Studios, alongside Corbet and Fastvold and Brian Young. Hayley Theisen serves as co-producer.
Fastvold’s directorial feature debut The Sleepwalker, co-written with and starring Corbet, premiered at Sundance in US Dramatic Competition and was distributed by IFC Films. Her second feature, The World To Come, premiered in Venice, where it won the Queer Lion and was distributed by Sony and Bleecker Street. Fastvold and Corbet also co-wrote Corbet’s three directorial features, including the upcoming Brutalist. She directed several episodes of Apple’s upcoming limited series The Crowded Room, starring Tom Holland.
Topic previously teamed with McKenzie on Debra Granik’s acclaimed drama Leave No Trace. The actress most recently starred in William Oldroyd’s Eileen opposite Anne Hathaway, which premiered at Sundance.
Kravitz recently wrapped her directorial debut Pussy Island written by Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum, starring Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum. In a competitive situation, MGM landed global distribution rights. She most recently starred as Selina Kyle in Matt Reeves and Warner Bros.’ The Batman.
Upcoming for Spencer and Nanny outfit Topic is David Lowery’s pop music melodrama Mother Mary with A24.
Fastvold is represented by CAA and manager Brian Young; McKenzie is represented by UTA, Untitled Entertainment, and GCM; Kravitz is represented by CAA and Untitled Entertainment; Corbet is represented by CAA and manager Brian Young; Lyon is represented by The Gernert Company and WME.