Lars von Trier is making a serial killer movie with “The House That Jack Built,” and has found two victims who will fall at the hands of Matt Dillon.
Uma Thurman, who first worked with the filmmaker on his previous effort, “Nymphomaniac,” is reteaming with him here, along with Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who has appeared in von Trier’s “Dancer In The Dark” and “Dogville.” They join the ensemble which also includes Riley Keough, Sofie Gråbøl and Bruno Ganz, in the ’70s and ’80s set story about a serial killer on the run. Thurman and Hogan will be two of his unfortunate victims. Here’s the official synopsis:
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILTS takes place in 1970s USA. We follow the highly intelligent Jack through 5 incidents and are introduced to the murders that define Jack’s development as a serial killer. We experience the story from Jack’s point of view. He views each murder as an artwork in itself, even though his dysfunction gives him problems in the outside world. Despite the fact that the final and inevitable police intervention is drawing ever near (which both provokes and puts pressure on Jack) he is – contrary to all logic – set on taking greater and greater chances. Along the way we experience Jack’s descriptions of his personal condition, problems and thoughts through a recurring conversation with the unknown Verge – a grotesque mixture of sophistry mixed with an almost childlike self-pity and in-depth explanations of, for Jack, dangerous and difficult manoeuvres.
The main cast is now firmed up, and filming on “The House That Jack Built” begins this month and continues through May. The picture has already been pre-sold throughout the world, but there’s no U.S. distributor lined up yet, and I’d guess probably won’t happen until after a festival premiere, and the first reviews arrive.