'The Babadook' Director Jennifer Kent Starts Shooting Her New Film 'The Nightingale' This Month

There’s no doubt that more than a few doors were kicked open for Jennifer Kent thanks to the rave reviews and breakout sensation status of her 2014 horror “The Babadook,” but the filmmaker has taken her time deciding her next move. While rumors floated she was being considered to helm Marvel‘s “Captain Marvel,” she’s thankfully putting her efforts toward another original movie, one that sounds pretty promising.

“The Nightingale” is set in Tasmania in 1825, and follows a beautiful 21-year-old Irish female convict who witnesses the brutal murder of her husband and baby by her soldier master and his cronies. Unable to find justice, she takes an Aboriginal male tracker with her through the hellish wilderness to seek revenge on the men, and gets much more than she bargained for.

“It was seen as hell-on-earth at the time,” Kent said last summer, about the setting of the movie. “It’s certainly not a horror film, but it’s a pretty horrific world.”

“They’re going into the centre of hell, and going out the other side,” she added, about the characters.

Well, damn, sign us up. Starring Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Damon Herriman, Ewen Leslie, Harry Greenwood, Baykali Ganambarr, and Magnolia Maymuru, production on “The Nightingale” begins this month.