Without question, one of the most striking and gorgeous directorial debuts of the last few years was filmmaker Joe Talbot’s Sundance-adored picture “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” starring Jonathan Majors. A24 released that picture, and given all the acclaim, it’s no surprise the indie studio is backing his follow-up sophomore effort. According to Variety, the film is based on the novel “The Governesses” by French author Anne Serre with Talbot co-writing the movie with poet-novelist Olivia Gatwood.
What’s more, Lily-Rose Depp, “Squid Game” breakout star HoYeon Jung, and “The Worst Person In The World” lead Renate Reinsve, who won the Best Actress award at Cannes last year, have landed three lead roles.
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“The Governesses” follows rebellious governesses that upend the household they work in by inspiring the minds of the boys in their care and igniting the imaginations of the bohemian couple who employ them. They also end up abandoning their charges for “erotic adventures.”
“The Governesses” will shoot in Spain and will also be developed/co-financed with the help of BBC Film.
Here is the synopsis of the original novel via Amazon:
In a large country house shut off from the world by a gated garden, three young governesses responsible for the education of a group of little boys are preparing a party. The governesses, however, seem to spend more time running around in a state of frenzied desire than attending to the children’s education. One of their main activities is lying in wait for any passing stranger, and then throwing themselves on him like drunken Maenads. The rest of the time, they drift about in a kind of sated, melancholy calm, spied upon by an old man in the house opposite, who watches their goings-on through a telescope. As they hang paper lanterns and prepare for the ball in their own honor, and in honor of the little boys rolling hoops on the lawn, much is mysterious.
This certainly sounds like material tailor-made for a studio like A24, and we’ll be interested to see who else joins the cast. “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” is outstanding, one of the best films of 2019, so “The Governesses” immediately lands on our most anticipated list for 2023.