by FilmInk Staff
SEE-SAW FILMS ANNOUNCES ‘DEATH IN HER HANDS’, A NEW FILM WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY DAVID LOWERY STARRING TILDA SWINTON, BASED ON OTTESSA MOSHFEGH’S ACCLAIMED NOVEL
Academy Award®-winning See-Saw Films has today announced a new feature film Death In Her Hands. Adapted and directed by acclaimed filmmaker David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight, Mother Mary) based on the cult novel by Ottessa Moshfegh (My Year of Rest and Relaxation), starring Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door, Memoria, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Eternal Daughter, pictured). The film will be produced by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Jeanie Igoe; Executive Producers are Simon Gillis and Ann Phillips. Death In Her Hands is an anarchic whodunnit, an otherworldly psychological thriller, and a striking portrait of a woman striving to take control of her own story.
While walking in the woods near her new home, recent widow Vesta Gul (Tilda Swinton) comes across a chilling handwritten note: “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” Except there is no body. No blood. Unmoored by the death of her husband and armed only with a camera, her dog Charlie, and her vivid imagination, Vesta becomes obsessed with uncovering Magda’s identity and fate. As her inner world begins to eclipse reality, the mystery of Magda threatens Vesta’s grip on her own life – until, in a spellbinding operatic climax, we realise that Magda’s death may finally allow Vesta to live.
Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, are teaming up with WME Independent to secure financing at Cannes.
Writer and Director David Lowery has a singular ability to create visually evocative and emotionally resonant cinema. From the lingering melancholy of A Ghost Story to the existential outlaw odyssey of The Old Man & the Gun, and the dreamlike quest of The Green Knight; Lowery’s work pushes boundaries, blends genres and plays with time, memory, and identity.
David Lowery said “I am a devoted fan of Ottessa Moshfegh, and the opportunity to translate Death In Her Hands to the big screen has been, in some ways, a subterfuge for getting to spend a great deal of time obsessing over her prose. But now the ruse is up! The script begot by the novel will soon become a film, and I am suddenly aware more than ever that adapting this particular work represents a devious challenge (anyone who’s read the novel will understand why)! But I’m ready for it, and am emboldened to have such wonderful collaborators at my side: the whole team at See-Saw, Jeanie, and of course, the incredible Tilda Swinton, who I know will illuminate Ottessa’s story in ways I could only dream of.”
Producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman said “David Lowery is a master of crafting striking, atmospheric stories, and there’s no one better to bring Ottessa Moshfegh’s haunting and brilliant novel to the screen. We can’t wait for audiences to step into the world he creates and be swept away by Vesta’s story, played by the incomparable, magnetic, and endlessly compelling Tilda Swinton.”
Tilda Swinton is repped by Hamilton Hodel,ll CAA and Peikoff Mahan.
David Lowery is repped by WME, ID PR and Victoria Cook at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
ABOUT SEE-SAW FILMS:
See-Saw Films is an Academy Award, Emmy and BAFTA-winning television and film production house, founded in 2008 by Joint CEOs Emile Sherman and Iain Canning. The innovative, industry-leading and talent-driven production company includes Joint Managing Directors Simon Gillis and Helen Gregory, and Head of TV and Film, Australia, Liz Watts.
See-Saw Films has offices in London and Sydney, and is part of the Paris-based Mediawan Group.
Working with many of the world’s most celebrated actors, directors and writers, See-Saw has built a strong track record as a tastemaker, delivering commercially successful, critically acclaimed and multi award-winning TV series and feature films. See-Saw has won 13 Emmys, 5 Oscars, 5 Golden Globes, 19 BAFTAs, and 27 AACTAs for television and film productions.
See-Saw titles include BAFTA and Emmy-winning Slow Horses for Apple TV+; Emmy-winning Heartstopper for Netflix; Academy Award®-winning The Power Of The Dog; BAFTA-winning and Academy Award®-nominated Lion; and the Academy Award® Best Picture-winning The King’s Speech. Projects recently released include Slow Horses season four for Apple TV+, Heartstopper season three for Netflix; and the debut of new series’ Sweetpea, for Sky Atlantic; and Apple Cider Vinegar, for Netflix.
Forthcoming TV series include fifth and sixth seasons of Slow Horses for Apple TV+, a second season of Sweetpea for Sky Atlantic and Starz, and new returning series Grown Ups for Netflix and Rivers of London for Sky, the latter of which is a co-production with Pure Fiction TV. See-Saw’s diverse development pipeline includes new shows with Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, SBS, Sky and Stan. Upcoming films include Tenzing for Apple Original Films, and a feature film finale to the hit series Heartstopper, for Netflix.
In 2024, See-Saw Films announced its partnership with Michael Ende Productions to develop and produce live action films adapted from Michael Ende’s novel The Neverending Story.
Alongsidean in-house sales agency Cross City Films, See-Saw has two joint venture production companies, Picking Scabs with writer/showrunner Samantha Strauss (Apple Cider Vinegar), I Am That with creator/director Garth Davis (Lion); an in-house label fanboy run by Heartstopper executive producer Patrick Walters; and is an investor in Tom Winchester’s TV company, Pure Fiction TV, alongside talent agency Hamilton Hodell.
See-Saw’s podcast, The Sandbox, hosted by Emile Serman, shines a light on the creative process through longform conversations with key creatives from See-Saw’s productions.
