Sarah Polley’s ‘The Bell Jar,’ Starring Billie Eilish, Starts Filming in Toronto

Here’s a major update on Sarah Polley’s next film, “The Bell Jar,” which stars Billie Eilish — it just started filming this week in Toronto.

Yes, this is an adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s landmark novel, which Polley is directing for Focus Features, and with a 2027 premiere being eyed, no doubt at one of the major film festivals.

Eilish, who made her acting debut in an episode of the 2023 Amazon series “Swarm,” will play Esther Greenwood, and her famous struggle with mental illness. This will be Eilish’s acting movie debut.

Plath’s struggles with severe depression are, sadly, part of the lore surrounding her legacy as a great writer. She took her own life at the age of 30, just a month after releasing “The Bell Jar” in 1963 under the pen name “Victoria Lucas.” Three years later, the novel was republished under her real name for the first time. It did not reach American readers until 1971, when it quickly became a bestseller.

“The Bell Jar” is a semi-autobiographical novel that follows Esther Greenwood, a young woman who seems to have a bright future but gradually descends into depression. As she contends with societal expectations, personal identity, and the pressure to succeed, Esther experiences profound isolation and suffocation, as if trapped under a metaphorical bell jar.

Coming off her Oscar-winning “Women Talking,” writer/director Polley flirted with directing Disney’s live-action “Bambi” remake, though she exited the project a year later—a decision many considered wise.

Before “Women Talking,” Polley had taken more than a decade-long break between films. Over her 20-year directing career, she has helmed only four films: “Stories We Tell,” “Away From Her,” “Take This Waltz,” and “Women Talking.”