One of the buzzier upcoming foreign films just got a major boost to its cast sheet. The Match Factory announced today that Vicky Krieps and Christian Friedel will join Aimee Lou Wood and Johnny Flynn on Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert‘s upcoming film, “The Idiots.” Krieps and Friedel are on board in supporting roles, while Wood and Flynn play the leads.
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And what lead roles they are. Based on Andrew D. Kaufman‘s novel “The Gambler Wife: A True Story Of Love, Risk, And The Woman Who Saved Dostoevsky,” “The Idiots” stars Flynn as Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Wood as his wife, Anna. The film follows the newlyweds on their honeymoon to Baden, where a disastrous bout of gambling inspires the writer to pen one of his most remarkable works, “The Idiot.” The film is Szumowska and Englert’s follow-up to their 2023 film “Woman Of…“; the pair also co-directed “Never Gonna Snow Again” back in 2020. Along with co-directing “The Idiots,” Szumowsky and Englert also co-write its adapted screenplay with Kasper Bajon and Bríd Arnstein. Englert will also serve as the film’s cinematographer.
Krieps needs no introduction for American audiences, as moviegoers will recognize her for going toe-to-toe with Daniel Day Lewis in P.T. Anderson‘s 2017 drama “Phantom Thread.” More recent work for the actress includes “Corsage,” “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” and “Went Up The Hill.” As for Christian Friedel, he recently starred in “The White Lotus” Season 2 and Jonathan Glazer‘s “The Zone Of Interest.”
Hype Studios and Gold Rush Pictures will co-produce “The Idiots.” Hype Studios’ recent films include 2020’s “Persian Lessons” and last year’s “Limonov: The Ballad Of Eddie,” which premieres in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. As for Gold Rush Pictures, recent films include 2023’s “Gold Rush,” and “The Light,” which opened the Berlinale this year.
Stay tuned for more details on “The Idiots,” which The Match Factory has readied for international sales.
