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The 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival kicked off Friday, March 7 in Austin with world and North American premieres of movies in 11 sections, TV shows in three sections and several short film and virtual reality programs.

This year’s festival launched with opening-night film Another Simple Favor reteaming Paul Feig, Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, with other notable world premiere titles including Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome, Kate Mara‘s two entries The Astronaut and The Dutchman (the latter also starring André Holland), the Ben Affleck-Jon Bernthal sequel The Accountant 2, the Nicole Kidman-starring Holland and Death of a Unicorn starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega.

Check out Deadline’s reviews recaps below as films premiere at the fest, which runs through March 15, and click on the titles for the full reviews.

The Accountant 2 ‘The Accountant 2’

Section: Headliner

Director: Gavin O’Connor

Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda,...

For the most part, eclectic indie writer/director Chad Hartigan has made an entire career out of taking his own personal experiences and spinning them into something different or turning them on their head entirely (see “Morris From America”). Lately, the filmmaker’s been branching out, making films based on other people’s original ideas, and he continues in this vein with the dramatic, romantic comedy “The Threesome.”

But if a movie about a sexual troika gone awry sounds like a bad, broad romantic comedy, keep in mind who the thoughtful filmmaker is here.

Continue reading ‘The Threesome’ Review: Zoey Deutch Leads A Heartfelt Look At Sex, Love & Pregnancy In Chad Hartigan’s Sincere RomCom [SXSW] at The Playlist.

Director Chad Hartigan fearlessly leads his intrepid team of actors into the fray with Grae Drake at SXSW 2025. When she asks a question (sort of) in the film ("What is a boring thing about you that you're really proud of?") the group gets very candid very fast. Zoey Deutch, Ruby Cruz, Jonah Hauer-King, and Jaboukie Young-White share the most/least fascinating things about themselves and show how much they love each other. Occasionally they also talk about the film, as well as The Little Mermaid, For All Mankind, the Most watched music videos in the world, and Companion. Also rat tails.

In the film, a young man's perennial crush leads him into an unexpected threesome, he thinks it's his ultimate fantasy come true. When the fantasy ends, all three are left with sobering real-world consequences, to take responsibility for their actions.

A big swing and nearly a miss, Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome is not without its charms even as it can overstay its welcome. A rom-com that offers a more serious tone for characters either in a state of arrested development or a new kind of adulthood that defies labels, it has much in common with Hartigan’s previous films, which live and breathe as hangout movies. His latest, written by Ethan Ogilby, starts to wane as characters continue bantering over the predicament they find themselves in time and again, leading to an awkward balancing act.

The fatal flaw is that lead Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) is too generic––a recording engineer living in Little Rock, Arkansas who appears to be an all-around good guy made for flirty banter. He’s always had a thing for hip waitress Olivia (the always-spirited Zoey Deutch). Olivia is either a free spirit or someone...

In The Threesome, a provocative romantic comedy, the story challenges traditional notions of love and connection. The title itself serves as a signal for exploring shifting dynamics in relationships. Director Chad Hartigan and screenwriter Ethan Ogilby present a scenario where fate brings together three distinct characters—Connor, Olivia, and Jenny—each with their own desires and hesitations.

Connor’s quiet yearning sets off a sequence of events that leads him into a complicated arrangement, while Olivia’s reserved yet determined presence and Jenny’s fresh, offbeat energy create a mix that both confounds and entertains.

The film inspects modern dating through the lens of a single, transformative encounter, exploring how personal choices affect lives in unexpected ways. Its narrative structure is crafted with care, offering a layered look at commitment and honesty as personal values are tested.

The script balances moments of humor with instances of raw vulnerability, allowing the...

“The Threesome” is quick to establish its rom-com bona fides by opening at a wedding, but like much in Chad Hartigan’s sixth feature, there’s a little something more going on when it sets the stage for a marriage of sensibilities behind the scenes. The director, who is capable of both contemplative dramas (“This Is Martin Bonner”) and raucous comedies (“Morris From America”), tries to strike a balance between screenwriter Ethan Ogilby’s cringe-humor premise of an impromptu ménage à trois and the more serious relationship dynamics it suggests. The results are mixed in ways the filmmakers probably didn’t intend, but they’re at once genuinely intriguing and enormously charming given the talent involved.

Those taking the vows are friends of Connor (Jonah Hauer-King), who has hoped for some time to be reciting some of his own with Olivia (Zoey Deutch), a waitress who has long put off...

From the title alone, The Threesome implies romantic entanglements and difficult dynamics. Sure, the actual sex might be fun, but consider the larger implications of what a threesome means, if you pay too much attention to one person and disregard another, and how all of this completely alters the relationships that exist between these three people. In The Threesome, from Morris from America and Little Fish director Chad Hartigan and writer Ethan Ogilby, a threesome is more about the complex entanglements that come after this sexual escapade, and the impact of this fleeting moment — a smart choice that makes this rom-com far more than it might seem on the surface, and based on that title alone.

Everybody wants rom-coms to have a renaissance, but nobody seems to know how they should evolve to reflect the realities of the modern world. Few of the recent efforts to resurrect the form have been meaningfully successful, and most of those rare successes have used hot new stars to hide their reliance on dusty old tropes; no shade to the breezy appeal of “Anyone but You,” but no one would accuse that Shakespeare-inspired charmer of trying to move the genre forward.

The prevailing wisdom is that the unfettered wish fulfillment of movies like “Sleepless in Seattle” (or whatever) is a poor fit for the messiness of the digital age, even if it really had more to do with the fact that social media has made it hard to write a decent meet-cute, and the streaming boom gave Hollywood studios an excuse to stop trying. But wish fulfillment was always just...

The title of the new rom-com The Threesome is certainly eye-catching, but the sexual tripling it suggests is just a starting point for a plot that could probably be dragged out for a full season on The Young & the Restless.

Fortunately, the soap-opera turns the story takes are in the hands of talented indie filmmakers who devise a complex tale of three young singles simply looking for love but find complications pulling them apart and keeping them together in ways they never could have imagined.

At its heart it is a simple premise. Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) has a longtime crush on lively and attractive Olivia (Zoey Deutch), who notices him engaged in conversation with a stranger named Jenny (Ruby Cruz) and decides to take matters into her own hands by ingratiating herself with the woman they both have just met, seducing not just Connor but also Jenny, first with...

As Sundance Film Festival kicks off, the next major American film festival has unveiled its lineup. SXSW 2025’s slate includes the premieres of the latest films from Michael Bay, Chad Hartigan, Flying Lotus, Mimi Cave, Jay Duplass, Babak Anvari, Rodney Ascher, and more. But first, last year’s SXSW winner of the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award in the Narrative Feature categories, Tracie Laymon’s Bob Trevino Likes It, will arrive on March 21 and Roadside Attractions has unveiled the first trailer.

John Fink said in his review, “A crowd-pleasing film inspired by director Tracie Laymon’s experience talking with a stranger online at a low point in her life, Bob Trevino Likes It is a moving story that proves good people do exist in this world. With two wonderful performances by Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo––playing two strangers who share the same last name but are otherwise unrelated...

Gersh has signed actor Ruby Cruz for representation.

Cruz is best known for her performance as the timid outsider Hazel in Emma Seligman’s acclaimed comedy “Bottoms,” also starring Rachel Sennott, Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber and Nicholas Galitzine. The film follows two unpopular students who start a fight club as a way to sleep with cheerleaders before their graduation.

She also appeared as Jess in the crime drama miniseries “Mare of Easttown” with Kate Winslet, Jean Smart, Sosie Bacon and Cailee Spaeny.

Cruz made history as Disney’s first openly LGBTQ+ princess, Kit Tanthalos, in the Disney+ fantasy series “Willow,” produced by Imagine Entertainment and Lucas Television. The series was a sequel to the 1988 film of the same name starring Warwick Davis, and followed six heroes as they came together to save their world from evil forces known as the Gales.

Other television credits include Hulu’s “Castle Rock,...

On the eve of Cannes, film financing and sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment has made several key promotions as well as adding a new hire to its team.

Shane Kelly, who has been with the company since 2019, is being promoted to senior vice president, international sales and acquisitions. In this new role, he will continue to oversee sales and distribution efforts while formalizing the addition of project acquisitions as part of his purview, continuing to report to Mister Smith CEO David Garrett. In his previous role as VP international sales and distribution, Kelly has been instrumental in helping manage the company’s slate through sales, financing, marketing and distribution.

In addition, Emma Mason is being promoted to vice president, international marketing and publicity and will continue to lead the marketing and publicity team and oversee festival strategy for the Mister Smith slate.

Katie Hogan is being promoted to distribution and marketing executive,...

Following a highly successful collaboration on Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, Sebastian Stan and Lily James are set to reteam on Let the Evil Go West, a psychological horror thriller from director Christian Tafdrup (Speak No Evil).

north.five.six. reps the film’s international rights and will introduce it to buyers at Cannes, while CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group arranged the financing and will handle the domestic sale.

Let the Evil Go West follows a railroad worker who stumbles upon a fortune under deeply disturbing circumstances. As horrifying visions and manifestations drive him toward madness, his wife becomes convinced that an evil presence has attached itself to their family.

Xc Vs penned the script. Tim and Trevor White are producing under their Star Thrower Entertainment banner, alongside Mark Fasano and Nathan Klingher for Gramercy Park Media, which is also financing the film, and Allan Mandelbaum.

Exclusive: Jack Dylan Grazer (It franchise), Josh Segarra (Scream VI) and Billy Bryk (When You Finish Saving the World) are among the final additions to the cast of the comedy Friendship, from Fifth Season and BoulderLight Pictures. Their roles are under wraps.

As previously reported, Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, and Kate Mara lead the cast. Other new additions include Jason Veasey, Jon Glaser, Eric Rahill, Conner O’Malley, Carmen Christopher, Craig Frank, Omar Torres, Jacob Ming-Trent, Daniel London, Whitmer Thomas, and Raphael Sbarge.

The first feature from writer-director Andrew DeYoung, Friendship follows Craig Waterman (Robinson), who enjoys his life. He likes New Balance shoes, Subway sandwiches, and Marvel movies. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, Tami, and son, Steven. He’s happy to work at Universal Digital, a company that helps brands make their products more habit-forming. Craig sees no reason to change anything or make new friends… until...

Exclusive: A24 and Star Thrower Entertainment have partnered on director David Freyne’s romantic comedy Eternity with Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner in talks to star. Freyne will direct the pic, with Teller and Olsen exec producing.

A24 will finance and produce, with Oscar-nominated producers Trevor White and Tim White under their Star Thrower Entertainment banner, which is best known for producing The Post and King Richard. Pat Cunnane wrote the script, which appeared on the 2022 Black List.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the film is said to be a romantic comedy where everyone must decide who they want to spend eternity with. A24 will handle the global release.

After starring in the global blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, Teller has continued to stay busy and next will be seen in Apple Original Films’ The Gorge opposite Anya-Taylor Joy. He is currently filming the Michael Jackson biopic Michael,...

Audiences are one step closer to joining The Threesome. Today, the leading cast of the upcoming romantic-comedy confirmed that production has officially wrapped on the project, which filmed in Arkansas. Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, and Chad Hartigan all posted a peak under the sheets via their Instagram accounts, providing glimpses at themselves and other cast members while on set, as well as other behind-the-scenes looks at the production. All three also expressed their excitement for the movie in their respective captions. At the time of this writing, no release date has been announced.

Exclusive: Arden Myrin (Insatiable) has been set to star alongside Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruby Cruz and more in director Chad Hartigan’s high-concept rom-com The Threesome for Star Thrower Entertainment, Filmopoly and Jupiter Peak.

Details as to her role are under wraps.

Recently wrapping production in Arkansas, the film explores the aftermath of one impulsive, seemingly innocuous decision. When a young man’s perennial crush leads him into an unexpected threesome, he thinks it’s his ultimate fantasy come true. But when the fantasy ends, all three are left with sobering real-world consequences, forcing them to take responsibility for their actions — even if it means compromising the lives they’ve always envisioned.

Ethan Ogilby wrote the script for the pic, also starring Jaboukie Young-White and Josh Segarra. Pic’s producers are Tim White and Trevor White for Star Thrower Entertainment, Vince Jolivette for Filmopoly, and Steven Shapiro for Jupiter Peak.

Is a threesome scenario still titillating for movie audiences in 2024? We’re going to find out after Chad Hartigan’s “The Threesome” arrives at festivals and/or theaters down the road. The drama recently wrapped production in Arkansas and today it was revealed Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, and Ruby Cruz are prominent cast members of the independently financed production.

Read More: Simu Liu confirms Destin Daniel Cretton will return to direct “Shang-Chi 2“

According to a release from production entities Star Thrower Entertainment, Filmopoly, and Jupiter Peak Productions, the movie is based on a script by Ethan Ogilby in his first screenplay credit (although “based on” is a curious way to describe it).

Continue reading Zoey Deutch To Star In Chad Hartigan’s ‘The Threesome’ at The Playlist.

Zoey Deutch (Not Okay), Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid) and Ruby Cruz (Bottoms) will star alongside Jaboukie Young-White (Rap Sh!t) and Josh Segarra (Scream IV) in the high-concept romantic comedy The Threesome from Star Thrower Entertainment (King Richard), Filmopoly and Jupiter Peak, which has wrapped production in Arkansas.

Directed by Chad Hartigan (Morris from America) from a script by Ethan Ogilby, The Threesome explores the aftermath of one impulsive, seemingly innocuous decision. When a young man’s perennial crush leads him into an unexpected threesome, he thinks it’s his ultimate fantasy come true. But when the fantasy ends, all three are left with sobering real-world consequences, forcing them to take responsibility for their actions — even if it means compromising the lives they’ve always envisioned.

The film is produced by Tim White and Trevor White for Star Thrower Entertainment, Vince Jolivette for Filmopoly, and Steven Shapiro for Jupiter Peak.

Olivia Cooke now comfortably sits in the pop-culture consciousness as Queen Alicent Hightower from House of the Dragon. Given the weight of the franchise and Olivia’s flawless performance, it’s difficult to imagine her as anyone but the mean, green Queen. But while she may not have been as well known before House of the Dragon, she was definitely churning out some very impressive work. Prior to the show, she exhibited her acting prowess and range in movies like Ouija, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and Ready Player One. But there is one movie of hers that often gets overlooked by her fans and critics alike because of its small budget and unfortunate timing, and that is Chad Hartigan’s Little Fish.

Henry Dunham directs his second feature; Jay Van Hoy produces.

UK sales company Mister Smith Entertainment will introduce Henry Dunham’s thriller Wichita Libra , starring Phoebe Dynevor, to buyers at this month’s European Film Market.

UTA is handling North American rights.

Wichita Libra is the second feature of US filmmaker Dunham, whose 2019 debut The Standoff At Sparrow Creek premiered at Toronto.

It is about a woman who flees rural Kansas for Chicago following a triple murder. A decade later, she is drawn back home after her brother’s death to decode a cryptic letter he left behind.

It is...

Henry Dunham directs his second feature; Jay Van Hoy produces.

UK sales company Mister Smith Entertainment will introduce US-set thriller Wichita Libra starring Phoebe Dynevor to buyers at this month’s European Film Market.

Wichita Libra is the second feature of US filmmaker Henry Dunham. UTA is handling North American rights.

In the aftermath of a triple murder in her hometown, a woman flees rural Kansas for Chicago and starts a new life. A decade later, she is drawn back home after her brother’s death to decode a cryptic letter he left behind.

It is produced by Jay Van Hoy,...

Exclusive: Mister Smith Entertainment has closed pre-sales in major territories on Logan Lerman and Phoebe Dynevor romantic comedy The Threesome.

Deals have been sealed with Metropolitan for France; Signature Entertainment for the UK, Australia and New Zealand; Seven.One Entertainment Group for Germany; Rai Cinema for Italy; Mis.Label for Scandinavia; Nos Lusomundo for Portugal; Just Entertainment for Benelux; United King Films for Israel; Front Row Filmed Entertainment for the Middle East; International Distribution Company for Latin America; Acme Film for the Baltic states; Vertical Entertainment for Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania; Aqs for the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Blitz for ex-Yugoslavia; and Monolith Films for Poland.

Bridgerton star Dynevor (in one of her first projects since the Netflix hit) and Fury actor Lerman will lead the story about a young man whose long-time crush leads him into an unexpected threesome. He thinks it’s his ultimate dream come true, but when the fantasy ends,...

Screen is rounding up the key projects launched before and during this year’s American Film Market.

Screen International is rounding up the key projects launched before and during this year’s American Film Market.

Refresh the page for latest updates.

From the US

The Pack

Alexander Skarsgard marks his feature directing debut with this psychological thriller starring Florence Pugh. Production begins in March 2023. CAA Media Finance and 30West jointly represent US rights.

International sales: The Veterans

Immaculate

Sydney Sweeney produces (with Fifty-Fifty films) and stars in this psychological horror set in the Italian countryside. Michael Mohen will direct with...

CAA Media Finance will represent North America.

UK sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment has boarded international sales for Chad Hartigan’s romantic comedy, The Threesome.

CAA Media Finance will represent North America, will sales launching at the American Film Market (AFM) next week (November 1-6).

Cypriot-born, US-based filmmaker Hartigan, whose previous credits include Little Fish, will direct a cast including US Bullet Train actor Logan Lerman and UK Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor, with a screenplay by Ethan Ogilby.

It is produced by Los Angeles-based outfit Star Thrower, who have worked on King Richard, Ingrid Goes West and The Post.

When...

Click here to read the full article.

Paul Eenhoorn, the Australian actor best known for his acclaimed late-in-life starring turns in the indie darlings This Is Martin Bonner and Land Ho!, has died. He was 73.

Eenhoorn died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on Monday in his home in Tacoma, Washington, his wife, Stephanie, told The Hollywood Reporter.

He was going to start on a movie in Seattle with the filmmaking Silver brothers, director Kahlil Silver and writer Shogi Silver, later that day.

After relocating to the U.S. and the Seattle area in 1999, Eenhoorn portrayed the lead detective in Zoo (2007), a controversial documentary about a man who died after engaging in anal sex with a horse. The film premiered at Sundance and screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes.

As Kael, he led a group of medieval soldiers in Warrior’s End (2009), and in In the Company...

Exclusive: In what is sure to heat up the marketplace right before the holiday weekend, sources tell Deadline Logan Lerman and Phoebe Dynevor are attached to star in the romcom The Threesome with Chad Hartigan directing. Ethan Ogilby penned the script with King Richard production company Star Thrower producing.

Described as a high-concept, character-driven comedy in the vein of Knocked Up, the film explores the aftermath of one impulsive, seemingly innocuous decision. When a young man’s perennial crush leads him into an unexpected threesome, he thinks it’s his ultimate fantasy come true. But when the fantasy ends, all three are left with sobering real-world consequences, forcing them to take responsibility for their actions — even if it means compromising the lives they’ve always envisioned.

The package went out on the marketplace earlier this week and has already drawn interest from a handful of suitors.

Lerman is coming off...

Photo: ‘Little Fish’/Hulu If I told you that there was a film new to Hulu about a global pandemic causing loneliness and featuring mask-wearing, crowded hospitals, and going to a water park because it was its last day before closure would you believe me if I said the film was shot in 2019? Or that it is based on a short story written ten plus years ago but includes a demonstrator insisting the government created the virus, restrictions on who can get the cure when it finally becomes available, and border closures? If you answered no, you’re not alone, I could hardly believe my eyes when I read about the background of ‘Little Fish’, a film directed by Chad Hartigan which was set to premiere at Tribeca 2020 before its cancellation. Related article: Netflix’s ‘Oxygen’: Breathe, Remember Related article: ‘Pam & Tommy’: All the Hidden Details on...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Greenland (Ric Roman Waugh)

At first glance, Ric Roman Waugh’s Greenland appears to be a spiritual sequel to Geostorm. Also starring Gerard Butler, that 2017 film is a silly, diverting disaster-action epic. Greenland is decidedly more nuanced, cerebral, and, frankly, memorable. Butler plays John Garrity, a structural engineer determined to mend his fractured marriage. As he tries to make good with his wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) ahead of a neighborhood barbecue, reports of incoming debris from a nearby comet get more serious. John, unexpectedly, gets a “Presidential Alert” on his phone, informing him, his wife, and their son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd) have been selected for government-sponsored shelter. It...

Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell are the young couple trying to preserve memories of their romance in this story of doomed love

Once you get past its note of emo-mawkishness, there’s something disquieting and poignant (and rather prescient) about this doomed love story of the future, from director Chad Hartigan and taken from a short story by LA author Aja Gabel.

Emma (Olivia Cooke) and Jude (Jack O’Connell) are a young couple living in an America ravaged by a pandemic causing memory loss. The disease has been causing planes to crash, because pilots suddenly forget how to fly, and marathon competitors to keep on running into the night because they’ve forgotten they’re supposed to stop. The couple’s best friends have been hit by the disease, and Emma and Jude are now themselves anxiously monitoring each other for the first signs of forgetfulness, and trying to...

“They say you can’t forget feelings,and I still believe that.”

In Little Fish, newlyweds Jude (Jack O’Connell) and Emma (Olivia Cooke) find themselves amidst a global pandemic where memories begin to fade without warning. When Jack’s memory starts to deteriorate, the two will stop at nothing to hold on to the life they know and remember the love they share.

Writer/director Chad Hartigan is best known for his award-winning feature films This Is Martin Bonner and Morris From America. Hartigan won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the “Best of Next” Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, for This Is Martin Bonner. Hartigan won the Waldo Scott Screenwriter Award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for his film Morris From America. Little Fish marks the third collaboration between childhood friends Hartigan, composer Keegan Dewitt (Hearts Beat Loud) and cinematographer Sean McElwee...

February is shaping up to be something special. In response to a pandemic-extended awards season, the sort of films that used to crowd the release calendar just before New Year’s in an effort to Oscar-qualify while also still maintaining some measure of last-minute/latest-thing freshness are now arranging to come out over the coming weeks.

Think of that as a teaser of such upcoming films as “Minari” and “Nomadland” more than a reflection of this week’s lineup, although a couple of this week’s releases feature elements the marketing departments would be happy to hear described as “Oscar worthy.”

The first is Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut, in which he plays a gay man dealing with his father’s dementia (featuring a raging performance by Lance Henriksen). The second is Sam Levinson’s resourceful two-hander “Malcolm & Marie,” made during the pandemic and featuring two terrific, on-fire performances...

With Sundance Film Festival now in the rearview, it’s time to look at the worthwhile new releases of February. Featuring the roll-out of Oscar hopefuls, imaginative sci-fi features, and more, it’s a compelling line-up. We’ll also note that French Exit, which was considered for the list, will only get a small NY/LA release this month before returning in April, so we’ll feature it then.

13. A Glitch in the Matrix (Rodney Ascher)

Room 237 director Rodney Ascher has returned, this time to explore the very fabric of reality, or lack thereof. John Fink said in his review of the recent Sundance premiere, “I often wonder what influential film theorist Andre Bazin would make of VR and simulations, especially when this year’s Sundance has virtualized the festival experience in a way that benefits from a longer runway than most cultural events pivoting likewise. It’s only fitting...

With Covid-19 still raging around the world, a melancholy love story about a 2021 viral pandemic that ravages people’s relationships, romances and sense of self is perhaps not the easiest sell at the moment. Such timeliness proves both a blessing and a curse for “Little Fish,” writer-director Chad Hartigan’s heartfelt tale about a couple struggling with a global epidemic of memory loss. A portrait of life’s impermanence, it’s , although its theatrical and VOD prospects may be undercut by the fact that, in this present environment, its thematic concerns hit quite close to home.

Written by Mattson Tomlin (based on a short story by Aja Gabel), Hartigan’s followup to “Morris From America” fixates on the budding amour between veterinarian Emma (Olivia Cooke) and photographer Jude (Jack O’Connell). Their meet-cute occurs against the backdrop of a spreading disease known as Nia (Neuroinflammatory Affliction) which, without warning and at varying speeds,...

A sad, gorgeous film about love amid a pandemic, Chad Hartigan’s Little Fish features not our real disease (it was in the can before Covid-19) but an invented one in which healthy people lose chunks of their identities — bit by bit or all at once. Think Alzheimer’s, but a more aggressive and unpredictable affliction, and one that hits a shocking percentage of the world’s population. Crucially for this story, it strikes the young as well as the old, so a couple who are barely past their wedding day (Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell) can have their beautiful ...

A sad, gorgeous film about love amid a pandemic, Chad Hartigan’s Little Fish features not our real disease (it was in the can before Covid-19) but an invented one in which healthy people lose chunks of their identities — bit by bit or all at once. Think Alzheimer’s, but a more aggressive and unpredictable affliction, and one that hits a shocking percentage of the world’s population. Crucially for this story, it strikes the young as well as the old, so a couple who are barely past their wedding day (Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell) can have their beautiful ...

Following his breakout film, the affecting character study This is Martin Bonner, and his follow-up, the vibrant fish out of water tale Morris In America, director Chad Hartigan had a prescient, ambitious vision for his next feature. Set during a global pandemic in which a growing portion of the population is affiliated with memory loss, Little Fish tenderly follows the relationship between a couple (Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell) as they must face this scary new world and the personal strife they are forced to reckon with. As Hartigan elegantly jumps between the past and the present to show all facets of the bond at the film’s center, he contends with the universal fear of having those closest to you drift away.

Written by Mattson Tomlin, based on Aja Gabel’s short story, the logline of tackling a global pandemic may seem it could be conveyed with immense scope,...

Black Bear Pictures and Plan B Entertainment have acquired the feature film rights to Richard Powers’ upcoming novel, “Bewilderment,” in a highly competitive situation.

There were multiple bidders circling the project, a degree of interest that’s probably due to the fact that Powers’ previous novel, “The Overstory,” won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and was critically adored. The film version of “Bewilderment” will be financed by Black Bear Pictures, which will also develop and produce the picture alongside Plan B Entertainment.

The novel is set in the near future amid Earth’s slow deterioration. It follows a widowed father of a most unusual and troubled nine-year-old boy, as he turns to an experimental neurological treatment in order to save his son. Powers’ book is due to be published in Fall of 2021 by W. W. Norton & Company — its publication is expected to be one of the year’s big literary events.

IFC Films has released a trailer for the Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell led pandemic love-story ‘Little Fish’.

As a memory loss virus runs rampant, one couple fights to hold their relationship together before the disease can erase all memory of their love.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Chad Hartigan from a script penned by ‘The Batman’ scribe Mattson Tomlin, the film also stars Raul Castillo and Soko.

Also in trailers – Teaser trailer debuts for ‘We Can Be Heroes’

The film has a US On-Demand and theatrical release of February 5th 2021.

The post Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell star in trailer for ‘Little Fish’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

While that headline may have you thinking the new sci-fi drama Little Fish was quickly conceived and shot this year, drawing from the anxieties of our present moment, production on Chad Hartigan’s film was in fact completed earlier last year. A Tribeca selection, it’ll now arrive early next year via IFC Films and now the first trailer has landed.

Hartigan has quickly become a filmmaker to watch with his vibrant, heartfelt character studies This Is Martin Bonner and Morris From America. Scripted by Mattson Tomlin (The Batman) and starring Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell, his latest film looks to expand his scope in exciting ways as we follow newlyweds attempting to hold onto their romance during a pandemic which causes memory loss.

See the trailer below.

Little Fish opens in theaters and on demand on February 5, 2021.

The post First Trailer for Chad Hartigan's Little Fish Finds Romance Amidst...

The phrase “eerily prescient” is overused, but for “Little Fish” — a romantic drama set during a global epidemic — it’s apt. Directed by Chad Hartigan, purveyor of Sundance favorites “Morris From America” and “This Is Martin Bonner,” “Little Fish” revolves around a global epidemic that leads to memory loss and charts a young couple’s fight to hold onto each other despite the disease. That blend of romantic and cerebral sci-fi earned the film comparisons to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

Here’s the official synopsis: “Imagine waking up in a world where a pandemic has broken out, which strikes with no rhyme or reason, and causes its victims to lose their memories. Imagine waking up and not remembering the person you love. This is the world that newlyweds Emma (Olivia Cooke) and Jude (Jack O’Connell) find themselves in, not long after meeting and falling in love. When Jude contracts the disease,...

"They say you can't forget feelings... and I still believe that." IFC Films has unveiled the first official trailer for an indie romance titled Little Fish, the latest film from acclaimed indie filmmaker Chad Hartigan. This recently premiered at both the Newport Beach and Philadelphia Film Festivals this fall. As a memory loss virus runs rampant, one couple fights to hold their relationship together before the disease can erase all memory of their love in this sweeping sci-fi romance. Imagine waking up and not remembering the person you love. This is the world that newlyweds Emma and Jude find themselves in, not long after meeting and falling in love. When Jude contracts the disease, the young couple will do anything to hold onto the memory of their love. The film stars Olivia Cooke and Jack O'Connell as lovers, as well as Soko, Raúl Castillo, and David Lennon. This looks great,...

As the world experiences a global pandemic, we’ve seen some films that have striking similarities to what we’re currently experiencing. When you’re faced with a pandemic that has killed more than 1.4 million people, seeing post-apocalyptic movies and films about viruses take on a new meaning. The latest film to have this sort of similarity is “Little Fish.”

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As seen in the trailer for “Little Fish,” the story revolves around a married couple that is going through tough times as the husband seems to have contracted an illness dubbed Nia.

Continue reading ‘Little Fish’ Trailer: Chad Hartigan’s Latest Stars Olivia Cooke & Jack O’Connell As Newlyweds In A Pandemic at The Playlist.

IFC Films has acquired the North American rights to “Little Fish,” a sci-fi love story set in the aftermath of a pandemic that stars Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell.

IFC Films plans a February 5, 2021 release for “Little Fish,” which was an official selection for this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in the U.S. Narrative Competition.

Chad Hartigan, the Sundance award-winning director behind “This is Martin Bonner,” directed “Little Fish” based on a screenplay by Mattson Tomlin and a short story by Aja Gabel.

The film is set in the aftermath of a pandemic in which victims begin to lose their memories and affects one newlywed couple not long after they’ve first fallen met and fallen in love. When O’Connell’s character contracts the disease, the young couple will do anything to hold onto the memory of their love.

“Little Fish” is produced by Tim Headington and Lia Buman of Tango Entertainment,...

IFC Films has nabbed Chad Hartigan’s “Little Fish,” a love story set in a post-pandemic world that will have an eerie resonance when viewed in light of the coronavirus crisis.

The deal is for North American rights. IFC, which has remained active during Covid-19, releasing films such as “The Nest” and “The Trip to Greece,” will debut the picture on Feb. 5, 2021. “Little Fish” stars Olivia Cooke (“Ready Player One”), Jack O’Connell (“Unbroken”), Raúl Castillo (HBO’s “Looking”), and French singer-songwriter Soko. “Little Fish” boasts a screenplay by Mattson Tomlin based on a short story by Aja Gabel.

According to the official log line, “Little Fish” unfolds in a world where a pandemic has broken out. The disease causes its victims to lose their memories. Newlyweds Emma (Cooke) and Jude (O’Connell) have to grapple with this painful new reality. After Jude contracts the disease, the young couple struggles to...

Chad Hartigan’s clever sci-fi drama “Little Fish” sums its chief concerns in one grim line: “When your disaster is everyone’s disaster, how do you grieve?” A change of pace for the director of “Morris From America,” Hartigan’s weighty romance takes place in world afflicted by memory loss, with all the devastating results implied by that premise. , “Little Fish” plays as both an effective metaphor for Alzheimer’s, and the disintegration of a relationship without closure or reason.

Lead couple Emma (Olivia Cooke) and Jude (Jack O’Connell) are battling to recover their memories of each other as Jude succumbs to the affliction, which so far leaves Emma untouched. They aren’t the only ones working through that problem: In “Little Fish,” everyone in the world is collectively losing their memory to something called Nia, or “neuroinflammatory affliction.” It’s first seen in victims who suddenly forget who they...

Exclusive: As film festivals postpone and cancel across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic, independent films have taken a hit — but Seed&Spark has stepped into action to help by launching a platform specifically built for online festivals. On top of that, they will partner with an all-star roster of actors, filmmakers and celebrities have signed on to support the initiative.

Seed&Spark has shed light on improving equity and inclusion in entertainment for the last 8 years. The new online screening platform is an effort to help save 2020 film festivals as the indie films try to figure out what to do with their projects as a result of the numerous cancellation

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Jack O'Connell has left CAA for UTA, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

THR critic David Rooney praised the British actor's "sensitive performance" in his most recent appearance, as an FBI agent assigned to monitor actress Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart) in Seberg. Next, he stars opposite Olivia Cooke in Chad Hartigan's sci-fi romance Little Fish, set to premiere at Tribeca next month, and opposite Colin Farrell in Andrew Haigh's miniseries The North Water for BBC Two.

O'Connell made his feature debut in the acclaimed coming-of-age indie This Is England in 2006, then broke out as the extroverted Cook in ...

Jack O'Connell has left CAA for UTA, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

THR critic David Rooney praised the British actor's "sensitive performance" in his most recent appearance, as an FBI agent assigned to monitor actress Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart) in Seberg. Next, he stars opposite Olivia Cooke in Chad Hartigan's sci-fi romance Little Fish, set to premiere at Tribeca next month, and opposite Colin Farrell in Andrew Haigh's miniseries The North Water for BBC Two.

O'Connell made his feature debut in the acclaimed coming-of-age indie This Is England in 2006, then broke out as the extroverted Cook in ...

Entering its 19th edition this year, Tribeca Film Festival has announced its feature film lineup, including a number of anticipated titles as well as festival favorites. World premiering at the festival is Chad Hartigan’s sci-fi romance Little Fish, Gerardo Naranjo’s Kokoloko, Eleanor Coppola’s Love is Love is Love, Michael Winterbottom’s sequel The Trip to Greece, Rodney Ascher’s A Glitch in the Matrix, Talya Lavie’s Honeymood, BenDavid Grabinski’s Happily, Bryan Bertino’s The Dark & The Wicked, plus documentaries on Stanley Kubrick, Dmx, Harry Belafonte, John Belushi, Brian Wilson, and more.

In terms of festival favorites, there’s Josephine Decker’s Shirley (our review), Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You With Me, Gaspar Noé’s medium-length work Lux Aeterna, the St. Vincent-Carrie Brownstein collaboration The Nowhere Inn, and more. Plus, Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island will...