Justin Kurzel’s ‘Morning’ Set to Shoot Late 2023

Naomi Ackie has been added to the cast of Justin Kurzel’s “Morning.” The upcoming sci-fi feature is already set to star Laura Dern, Noah Jupe and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Shooting on the film is said to start in Germany later in 2023. He already has an investigative thriller, titled “The Order” that’s said to shoot in a few months. One of these will go to Cannes next year.

The official synopsis for “Morning”:

Set in a near future where society has a pill that does away with the need to sleep, the added help of an artificial sun means there is finally no end to morning daylight, living and work. But as a young generation grows up deprived of the world of sleep, is it time for them to rebel and reclaim their dreams?

The story follows Cathy (Dern) – an ambitious, driven early advocate of a sleepless world – who as she hurtles towards the anniversary of her husband Frank’s death (played by Cumberbatch) attempts to repair her relationship with her son, Danny (Jupe). 

But the sleepless universe Cathy helped build is starting to crumble around her, and the arrival of someone from Frank’s past (Ackie) brings up memories Cathy has been fighting hard to suppress. As Danny is being drawn away from his mother into a subversive underworld of dreamers, Cathy must confront the nightmares that have begun to bleed into her waking life and try to hold on to her son. Morning is a timely tale that will appeal to rebellious spirits across generations.

Australian director Kurzel is hit and miss for me. I loved “Nitram” and “Snowtown,” but was no fan of 2019’s “True History Of The Kelly Gang,” and his “MacBeth.” Don’t even ask about his adaptation of “Assassin’s Creed.”

Regardless, his Cannes-winning “Nitram” got me excited for whatever he does next, and it looks as though “Morning” and “The Order” will be both be coming out next year.