Léa Seydoux and Bill Murray to Star in Ursula Meier’s ‘The Quiet Land’

Here’s an interesting pair of actors set to star in a European filmmaker’s next film.

Ursula Meier has cast Léa Seydoux and Bill Murray in her next project, a detective film, “The Quiet Land,” which will begin shooting in Alberta, Canada (doubling as Montana) next fall. She also calls the project a “love story,” which might mean we’re in for an unusual age-gap romance.

Speaking to Variety, Meier revealed The Quiet Land was influenced by Swiss police photographer Arnold Odermatt, “who over a career spanning more than 40 years documented car accidents in striking, black-and-white analog photography,” and, in looking at these photos and imagining the “script of the crash,” has fashioned a plot with shades of “Blow-up” and “Memento.”

Synopsis: Montana Highway Patrol officer Connor McCluskey (presumably played by Murray) is fired following a medical evaluation as he looks into two deadly crashes. Convinced there may be more to the incidents, he becomes determined to protect an elderly woman in the area, with Meier aiming to “go very deep into the love story.”

Meier describes the film as a “police investigation, a love story and above all, a highly personal emotional journey to the self. A meditation on what remains of us when we’re gone.”

The film will have former Claire Denis DP Agnès Godard and Leos Carax’s editor Nelly Quettier. There’s a ton of talent behind and in front of the camera.

Meier has only shot three narrative features. “Home” premiered at Cannes in Critics’ Week in 2008, drawing praise. Her 2012 film “Sister” (“L’enfant d’en haut”) premiered in competition at Berlin, winning the Silver Bear Special Award. “The Line” (La Ligne) premiered in Berlin competition in 2022 to a more mixed critical response.