First Look: Tomas Alfredson’s ‘Seance on a Wet Afternoon,’ Starring Rachel Weisz, Shooting in the UK — Joe Alwyn Joins Cast

Remember Tomas Alfredson? The Swedish filmmaker had that one-two punch of “Let the Right One In” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” before, quite epically, striking out with “The Snowman,” a film that somehow managed to feel both bafflingly unfinished and oppressively self-important—a prestige thriller that played like it had been edited with several crucial reels missing.

Since that 2017 flop, Alfredson went back to his native Sweden and made the comical farce “Se upp för Jönssonligan,” the fifteenth (!) installment in the Jönssonligan franchise and a reboot of the series. Things weren’t looking so good for him in Hollywood, but he’s now been given one more chance.

Alfredson has been working hard to get “Seance on a Wet Afternoon” going for over five years now. Rachel Weisz has been attached for an equal amount of time. “Succession” star Matthew Macfadyen co-stars, while “Adolescence” writer Jack Thorne wrote the screenplay. The film finally started production in the UK a few weeks ago.

Furthermore, Joe Alwyn has now joined the cast — his last few credits include “Kinds of Kindness,” “The Brutalist,” and “Hamnet.” No word yet on his role, but Macfayden and Weisz are said to be playing husband and wife.

We also have first set pics. Weisz could be seen pinned to the ground by a policeman in a London park, a dishevelled Rachel Weisz appearing distressed during the dramatic arrest. I just have a good feeling about this film. McFayden is in the background looking distraught.

Based on Mark McShane’s acclaimed 1961 suspense novel, which was previously adapted as a film in 1964 starring Richard Attenborough and Kim Stanley, ‘Seance’ follows a self-proclaimed medium who convinces her husband to kidnap the son of a wealthy family in an effort to legitimize her psychic abilities.

Marcell Rév is the cinematographer; he’s best known for giving HBO’s “Euphoria” its woozy, neon-bruise visual language—restless camera moves and intimate close-ups.