Babadook Director Jennifer Kent’s Next Film is Period Revenge Thriller The Nightingale

There is, perhaps, no one better suited than The Babadook director Jennifer Kent to helm a story of horror, grief and female resolve. Such is the premise of Kent’s forthcoming film The Nightingale, which recently received a synopsis along with the news that the project is moving forward:

Set in Tasmania in 1825, The Nightingale follows a beautiful 21-year-old Irish female convict who witnesses the brutal murder of her husband and baby by her soldier master and his cronies. Unable to find justice, she takes an Aboriginal male tracker with her through the hellish wilderness to seek revenge on the men, and gets much more than she bargained for..

This promising summary evokes Apocalypto and The Revenant, as well as the many, fittingly exhausting revenge thrillers that explore the ways in which vengeance breaks the body and drains the soul. Given the innovative brilliance of Kent’s employment of Gothic artistry and haunted house tropes in The Babadook, however, the chances are good that The Nightingale won’t be a mere retread of well-worn (albeit still-compelling) narrative territory.

Aisling Franciosi (Jimmy’s Hall) and Sam Claflin (Finnick of the Hunger Games film adaptations) have been cast as the film’s leads. Kent will serve as writer in addition to director and Bron Creative will be both executive-producing and co-financing the forthcoming film, which is set to begin shooting later this month, per Indiewire.

Stay tuned for more updates on Kent’s new picture, aka one of the most exciting titles to be released in the next couple of years.