Four Actors Join Maddin's 'The Confessions'
Ari Aster is producing the psychological drama, which CAA Media Finance is launching at AFM.
By Abigail Brooks ·
CAA Media Finance and WME Independent are launching 'The Confessions' at the American Film Market. The film will star Alexander Skarsgard, Hunter Schafer, Maya Hawke, and Harry Melling. This project marks the next feature from Canadian directors Guy Maddin and the Johnson brothers.
The movie is described as a cautionary psycho-dramedy. It follows a group of condemned nuns. These characters witness the love triangle of a missing sea captain and his poet wife. The story spans the globe and includes elements of the accursed.
Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen's company Square Peg is producing the film. This team previously worked with the directors on 'Rumours.' That political satire premiered out of competition at Cannes in 2024. Square Peg has also produced 'Midsommar' and 'Bugonia.'
Aster called Maddin a 'great Canadian wizard' in a statement. He described the new script as singular and beguiling. The director noted that the filmmakers stand humongously tall among his favorites. Daniel Bekerman's Scythia Films has also joined the production.
Thin Stuff will produce the project in Canada with support from Telefilm Canada. Fritzi Adelman is part of the Thin Stuff team. Charades will handle international sales for the film. Elevation Pictures is set to distribute the movie in Canada.
The directors are known for surrealist and genre-bending storytelling. 'Rumours' starred Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander. That film depicted world leaders lost in the woods during a G7 summit. Maddin referenced a Bible verse in his announcement for the new film.
The filmmakers said their new project is part religio-maritime rough-music psychomachy. They also called it a hallucinated saltwater shaming parade. The four main actors are said to be in the belly of the story. The team stated they are already several steps ahead of the Bible.
