Starring Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat, the upcoming indie drama, “Drift,” a film by filmmaker Anthony Chen (“Ilo Ilo“), from the producers of “Call Me By Your Name” and “Nomadland” opens in early 2024. Two-time Academy Award nominee Erivo stars as Jacqueline, a woman who escapes her war-torn country to a Greek island. There, she meets an unmoored tour guide and the two become close as they each find hope in the other.
“Drift” premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie opens in New York on February 9th, 2024, with a national expansion to follow via Utopia Distribution.
READ MORE: ‘Drift’ Review: Cynthia Erivo Stars In An Impressionistic, Refugee Drama [Sundance]
On top of Erivo and Shawkat, “Drift” stars Ibrahima Ba, Honor Swinton Byrne, Zainab Jah, Suzy Bemba, and Vincent Vermignon.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Jacqueline (Two-Time Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo), a young refugee, lands alone and penniless on a Greek island, where she tries first to survive and then to cope with her past. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with a rootless tour-guide (Alia Shawkat) and together they find the resilience to forge ahead. About the Director Anthony Chen is an award-winning writer, director and producer from Singapore. His debut feature Ilo Ilo (2013) was awarded the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His sophomore film Wet Season (2019) was nominated for the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2021, he contributed a short to the anthology film The Year of the Everlasting Storm, which premiered at Cannes. His recent film The Breaking Ice is Singapore’s submission for the 96th Academy Awards. Drift marks his English-language debut.
“Drift” was written by Susanne Farrell and Alexander Maksik (based on his novel “A Marker to Measure Drift”). The director Anthony Chen is also known for “Wet Season” and “The Breaking Ice” which premiered at Cannes earlier this year.
Producers on the picture include Peter Spears, Emilie Georges, Naima Abed, Anthony Chen, Cynthia Erivo, Solome William, with exes listed as Lauran Bromley, Kevin Sun, Tom (Fang) Sun, Yaping Li, Erin Xie, Teoh Yi Peng.
Erivo also co-wrote (with Laura Mvula) and sings the original song “It Would Be,” which is featured in the trailer. “Drift” hits theaters in February 2024. Check out that clip below.
