Vertical Entertainment has picked up “Misanthrope”, a psychological thriller from Argentinian director Damián Szifron (Wild Tales). The film stars Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelsohn. The goal is to release the film in theaters nationwide during the first half of 2023.
Set in Baltimore on New Year’s Eve, a talented but troubled police officer (Woodley) is recruited by the FBI’s chief investigator (Mendelsohn) to help profile and track down a mass murderer.
Szifron’s “Wild Tales” was one of the major highlights of Cannes 2014. There had been rumors that “Misanthrope” was submitted for this past year’s edition of the festival, but it was ubiquitously absent from the official selection. The actual synopsis for “Misanthrope” sounds a tad too pedestrian and one would have expected a more prestigious arthouse distributor to buy the rights …
“Wild Tales” consisted of six short stories, tackling the extremities of human behavior and what happens when people are pushed to the brink. I highly recommend it, five of the six stories work viciously well.
“Hope,” Na’s first film in ten years — his last one being the exemplary “The Wailing” —is a gloriously messy, blood-soaked sci-fi epic that may become a cult classic despite—or because of—its polarizing nature.