First Look: Billie Eilish in Sarah Polley’s ‘The Bell Jar’

Sarah Polley’s adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” starring Billie Eilish in the lead role, is currently shooting in Toronto. Focus Features is backing the project, which is eyeing a 2027 premiere.

Eilish, who made her acting debut in an episode of the 2023 Amazon series “Swarm,” is leading Polley’s film. This will be Eilish’s acting movie debut.

We now have our first look at Eilish as Esther Greenwood, the deeply troubled young woman at the center of Plath’s iconic novel, whose tragic fate is well known to many readers — images below.

Eilish certainly has the gloomy, haunted presence that makes it easy to imagine her pulling off the role of Esther, though the real test will be whether she can capture the character’s emotional complexity beyond the surface-level despair.

Yes, this is almost certainly not going to be the feel-good movie of 2027. Plath’s struggles with severe depression are, sadly, part of the lore surrounding this novel. She took her own life at the age of 30, just one 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 (Eilish), a young woman who appears 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 beneath a metaphorical bell jar.

Joining Eilish in the cast is Carey Mulligan, who is reported to play Mrs. Greenwood, Esther’s mother. Connor Storrie is also rumored to be playing Buddy Willard after being spotted on location and credited during filming.

Coming off her Oscar-winning “Women Talking,” writer/director Polley briefly joined 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.”