Seven years after Alma Har’el made her narrative feature debut with “Honey Boy,” her long-awaited follow-up may finally be taking shape. Page Six reports that Javier Bardem is circling “Wet,” an original family drama compared to HBO’s “Succession” and “Triangle of Sadness.”
“Honey Boy” earned Har’el widespread acclaim, but its legacy has since become considerably messier. FKA twigs, who co-starred in the film and later dated Shia LaBeouf, sued him over alleged abuse, with Har’el publicly supporting her. LaBeouf later admitted that he exaggerated key parts of the film’s supposedly autobiographical portrayal of his father.
Har’el has now settled on “Wet” as her next feature. Little is known about the story beyond one knowledgeable source describing it as a family drama in the vein of “Succession” and Ruben Östlund’s 2022 Oscar-nominated social satire “Triangle of Sadness.”
Bardem is circling an undisclosed role, while Fifth Season is close to signing on as the film’s producer and financier. Neither deal has been completed, and the project currently has no formally announced cast, production schedule, or distributor.
“Wet” moved to the front of Har’el’s slate after another prospective feature stalled. The filmmaker had been developing an adaptation of “Mockingbird,” Walter Tevis’ 1980 dystopian science-fiction novel, but Searchlight Pictures placed the project into turnaround earlier this year.
The pairing of Bardem and Har’el also carries an interesting political dimension. Bardem has been among Hollywood’s more outspoken critics of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians, while Har’el was born in Tel Aviv and has described herself as Israeli-American. Sources say the two have nevertheless found substantial creative common ground.
Har’el moved into television after “Honey Boy,” most recently creating and directing Apple TV+’s “Lady in the Lake,” starring Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram. “Wet” would mark her first feature in seven years and her first original screenplay to reach production since her debut.
Bardem, meanwhile, recently starred in Apple TV+’s “Cape Fear.” His potential involvement would give “Wet” a major lead as Fifth Season works to secure the financing. WME, which represents both Har’el and Bardem, declined to comment.
Born in Chile, raised in Canada, now living in Brooklyn, NY, Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2007. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, MuchMusic, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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