With the Cannes Film Festival headed our way next month, there are naturally lots of embryonic films available to potential buyers and distributors available via the virtual market. One title that boasts solid talent in front of the camera and a respected writer behind it is Suddenly, a survival thriller with Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby attached to star.
Thomas Bidegain, who is largely known for writing films such as Rust And Bone, A Prophet and Dheepan, and who has tried his hand at directing with segments of 2019's Selfie, will step as solo director for this new project. He has also adapted the English-language script from Isabelle Autissier’s French novel Soudain Seuls, which follows a couple who become stranded on an island in the South Atlantic and must fight for survival when their dream journey becomes a nightmare. The novel shines a light on the dynamics of their relationship and also holds a mirror up to modern society.
This marks a re-teaming for Gyllenhaal and Bidegain after 2018's The Sisters Brothers. "With Suddenly, I wanted to analyse the deep dynamics of a relationship stripped of all the artifices of the modern world, when facing life and death situations in a wondrous but hostile environment," Bidegain tells Deadline. There's no word yet on when the cameras will be rolling for the drama.