There’s no denying that when beloved Irish actors Saoirse Ronan (Little Women, Lady Bird) and Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun) came together for their first movie together, fans would go wild.
The hype around Australian director Garth Davis’ (Lion, Top Of The Lake) adaptation of psychological triller ‘Foe’, written by Canadian author Iain Reid, is already at fever pitch, and no one has even seen the film.
The novel is set on an isolated farm 40 years in the future, with a kind of dystopian program causing havoc. Ronan and Mescal appear in the film as a married couple, dragged into the mess going on around them.
We now have the first look and release date for this upcoming film, so below, have detailed everything you need to know about it.
What Is The Plot Of ‘Foe’?
Mescal and Ronan star as a married couple living in a desolate, isolated farmhouse in a rural location, 40 years in the future.
Their characters lives, Junior (Mescal) and Henrietta or Hen (Ronan), are turned upside down on the arrival of a strange man Terrance (played by Aaron Pierre).
Terrance claims to work for a government aerospace company and offers Junior the opportunity to leave home for a number of years to complete a space program.
Junior, in love with Hen, is reluctant to leave his home, but is told he must go. Henrietta appears less impacted by the news and she doesn’t want to discuss Terrance’s new presence in their lives.
There is a plan in place for someone to watch over Hen while Junior is away, but Junior is critical of the plan and anxious that Terrance intends to take his place.
A series of twists and turns emerge in the claustrophobic farmhouse, as a marriage story unfolds within this dystopian universe.
We won’t spoil the ending of the book here, the plot is mysterious on purpose. According to an interview with Vanity Fair, Reid says that he did not have the story arch planned out for the characters when he wrote the book.
“I don’t want to know where the story’s going,” Reid said. “By writing about it, I start to know about the characters.”
Where Was ‘Foe’ Filmed?
Mescal and Saoirse went ‘Down Under’ to film this adaptation, with much of the filming taking place in rural Wangaratta in Victoria.
According to an interview with Vanity Fair, they had both been on zoom for weeks asking questions about their characters and the story before arriving. Ronan had prepared a piano performance for the film and Mescal appeared so at one with his character that producers say he was “on another dimension”.
The author of the novel, Reid, said that he would receive daily cuts of what had been shot and “just couldn’t believe what I was watching.”
Director Davis was happy with the choice of location, saying that it had to match the decomposition of the relationships on screen.
“Their marriage is decaying with the house in many ways—the house for me is almost like a house of ghosts,” he said. “It’s been a patriarchal, generational, rural symbol, with the multiple generations moving through there. The environment was constantly reinforcing the themes of what Henrietta was fighting against, wanting to push up against, and escape from.”
Who Is Cast In ‘Foe’?
Given the isolated location of the movie, it takes place with a very small cast. The key roles are:
- Henrietta, played by Saoirse Ronan (Little Women, Lady Bird, The Lovely Bones)
- Junior, played by Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun, The Lost Daughter)
- Terrance, played by Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad, Brother)
We Now Have The First Look From The Movie
Alongside the Vanity Fair interview, Amazon Studios released a series of images from the film.
We see a close up of Henrietta (Saoirse Ronan) looking detached, as Junior (Paul Mescal) leans on her.
There is also an image of Henrietta lying in bed as Junior kisses her arm. She appears to be disassociating with the situation, looking away from him, while he is studying her closely and with concern. We also have a close up of Terrance (Aaron Pierre), Henrietta nearby a horse and Junior looking out pensively across the landscape.
It sets the scene for what is sure to be a tension-filled thriller.
Release Date And How To Watch ‘Foe’ In Australia
‘Foe’ is an Amazon Studios production, but it will air in theatres first.
The release date has finally been announced, airing in Australia on October 19, 2023. It will run in theatres, and then likely live on the Amazon Prime streaming platform from there.
If you’re keen to sign up to the platform, click here.
Watch The Trailer Here
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