Ahead of the Cannes Market, several new film projects are being announced before they go out to buyers/distributors. One of those new films is a psychological thriller by writer/director Lance Edmands and boasts an impressive cast.
According to Deadline, Edmands’ “Brightwater” will star Scoot McNairy (“Narcos: Mexico,” “Killing Them Softly“), Jack Reynor (“Macbeth,” “Midsommar“), and Aussie actress Emily Browning (“American Gods,” “Legend“) in lead roles. An important aspect of these Cannes Market projects is making sure you have a good story idea that is backed up with a solid cast, which “Brightwater” has.
The thriller focuses on a big-city architect traveling to an isolated island with plans to build a sprawling luxury resort. However, when the architect’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes, he embarks on a desperate search across the unforgiving, brutal landscape of Maine and into his own psyche.
Bankside Films will launch the package deal at the Cannes Market with Verve Ventures co-repping domestically.
“Brightwater” is in pre-production and hails from Edmands, whose debut feature “Bluebird” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015. “Bluebird” starred John Slattery (“Mad Men“), Amy Morton, and then-rising star Adam Driver (“Marriage Story“).
The Playlist’s own review of “Bluebird” called the film “graceful, affecting, and moving.” Along with stating the drama was “a terrifically solid and sturdy effort across the board, ‘Bluebird’ is the real deal and a true package of strong collaborators coalescing to make a wonderful debut film.”
Maine is familiar to the filmmaker as “Bluebird” also takes place in the New England state, known for the setting of multiple Stephen King novels. The state has become known for unsettling stories given the isolating nature of small towns in the Northeastern United States.