Thomasin McKenzie has a doozy of a day, the kind she’ll never forget in the first trailer for “Eileen.” Set during a grim 1964 Massachusetts winter, the William Oldroyd-directed noir concerns a young and impressionable secretary who becomes understandably enraptured by a new counselor (Anne Hathaway) at the prison where she works. The trailer doesn’t spell out what diabolical doings will be done, but the implication is Hathaway goes full femme fatale.
Alongside its two top-billed stars, “Eileen” features Shea Whigham, Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Owen Teague (who will soon headline “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” alongside Freya Allen).
Based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel of the same name and produced by FIFTH SEASON, “Eileen” debuted to positive reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Neon picked up the picture and plans to give it a year end awards season push. Audiences can expect a platform release in New York City and Los Angeles on Dec. 1 before going wide on Dec. 8.
Steve Pond at TheWrap called the film “a blackly humorous riff on film noir and a tour de force for its cast,” and the film’s commercial hopes arguably lie in the two-hander at its core. The picture currently has an 89% fresh and 7.3/10 amid 81 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
McKenzie has quickly become a must-see talent since her breakout in Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” in 2017. Granik’s “Winter’s Bone” put Jennifer Lawrence on the map (and gave the future star her first Oscar nomination) in 2010. Since the 2017 drama, McKenzie has starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old,” Edgar Wright’s “Last Night In SoHo” and Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit.”
Hathaway’s 25-year career speaks for itself. She has racked up a slew of mainstream pictures like “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Intern” and “Ocean’s Eight,” indie darlings like “Colossal” and “She Came to Me,” and awards season biggies like “Les Miserables,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Rachel Getting Married.”
Watch the trailer above.
“Eileen” will be released by Neon on December 1.
