It’s a loose riff on the Amanda Knox story, basically. A father travels from Oklahoma to France to help his estranged daughter, who is in prison for a murder she claims she didn’t commit. That’s the story of “Stillwater” starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin, from Tom McCarthy, the director behind the Oscar-winning Best Picture “Spotlight” (2015). McCarthy really directed the hell out of that lean, no-nonsense procedural, and one presumes he’ll do the same with “Stillwater,” his first feature since 2020’s “Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.” (yes, he’s been busy).
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This is obviously the opposite of his last film and more of a dramatic thriller. The film opens at the end of July but is premiering Out Of Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off today. The first clip from the film has arrived, and it’s a tête-à-tête between Damon and Breslin, who plays his daughter in the film, having seemingly accepted her fate and trying to be zen about it. “Stillwater” also stars Camille Cottin. Damon plays a “roughneck from Oklahoma,” which sounds like code for Red State, dude. His drawl is certainly thick. Here’s the official synopsis:
A dramatic thriller directed by Academy Award® winner Tom McCarthy and starring Matt Damon, Stillwater follows an American oil-rig roughneck from Oklahoma who travels to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter, in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit. Confronted with language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system, Bill builds a new life for himself in France as he makes it his personal mission to exonerate his daughter.
Focus Features will release “Stillwater” in theaters on July 30, 2021, roughly two weeks after it makes its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in its second week. Watch the new clip below.
