What do you get when you put the star of the best film of 2023 and the co-lead of one of the best films of 2024 on screen together at the same time? No, it's not the set up for a strangely specific cinephile joke, but rather a hamfisted way of saying that Past Lives' Greta Lee and All Of Us Strangers' Andrew Scott are making a movie together. Per Deadline's reporting, the dynamite acting duo have signed up to lead sci-fi romance My Notes On Mars, the English-language debut of Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát (Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time).
Lili Horvát has written the script for this one herself, with the film set to shoot early next year between Budapest and Vienna. And whilst further casting details remain under wraps for the time being, we do have a curiosity piquing description of the plot from Deadline's piece. It reads as follows: "[My Notes On Mars] centers on Margot (Lee), a brilliant young scientist with a troubled marriage, who disappears inexplicably while hiking with her husband Sam (Scott) and a group of friends. A few weeks later, she miraculously reappears the day of her own memorial service. Margot is clearly not the same as before the accident. Nevertheless, Sam sees his wife’s miraculous reappearance as a second chance."
In a statement accompanying the movie's announcement, Horvát — who has previously said her follow-up to 2020's Preparations... would be a contemporary take on Pygmalion — describes her latest as “a story about the labyrinthine human psyche, about the ever-changing faces of love." She goes on to note how she's “particularly drawn to characters who dare to make surprising, unconventional choices in both their private and professional lives,” drawing a line of comparison between her new film's leads and the parts they play. “I feel that this is true for Greta and Andrew as well. It is an incredible honor for me that I can accompany them on the journey of creating Margot and Sam Fogel.”
With Horvát behind the camera and two of the most exciting actors working today in front of it, we've no notes so far for My Notes On Mars beyond "this sounds amazing!" and "please inject it into our eyeballs ASAP!" Although, if Lili's taking alternative title suggestions, how about Past Lives Of Us Strangers? No? Fine... we'll stick to the day job.