It wouldn’t be a Cannes Film Festival without French actress extraordinaire Isabelle Huppert on the Croisette somehow. Deadline reports that a home invasion thriller set to star Huppert is making the rounds at the Cannes market today. Its title? “Free Radicals,” adapted from Alice Munro‘s short story that The New Yorker published back in 2008.
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Huppert will star as an ailing woman who encounters Finn Wittrock‘s young killer on the run when he breaks into her house. So expect a thriller akin to something like “Wait Until Dark” or in the Hitchcockian wheelhouse from this one. And considering Munro is a Nobel Prize-winning author, yes, the source material is up to snuff. Xia Magnus will direct “Free Radicals” from a script he co-pens with Alyssa Polk. It’s Magnus’ follow-up 2020 feature debut “Sanzaru,” about a hospice care worker who begins to doubt her sanity as her patient’s health fails. So Magnus has a thing for claustrophobic domestic thrillers.
Alexandra Milchan and Theo Vieljeux serve as producers on “Free Radicals,” while Charades handles the international sales for the movie at Cannes. It’s another buzzy film for Charades to shop around after several in the past few years, like “Swallow” with Haley Bennet and Zachary Wigon‘s “Sanctuary,” and Charlotte Wells‘ lauded debut “Aftersun.” CAA Media Finance will help represent the film domestically.
Yohann Comte of Charade promises another excellent thriller with “Free Radicals.” “This poisonous ballet was an obvious fit for Charades,” said Comte, “a young talented director like Xia Magnus, a fascinating complex woman played by the great Isabelle Huppert, surrounded by producer Alexandra Milchan and Theo Vieljeux. This is exactly the kind of project we were looking for after films like “Sanctuary.”” Notably, “Sanctuary,” with Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley, is another dark domestic drama, so Charade has a trend here.
Now 70, Huppert shows no signs of slowing down as an actress. Last year alone she starred in “Caravaggio’s Shadow,” Jerzy Skolimowski‘s Cannes hit “EO,” “Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris,” and “La Syndicaliste” (“The Sitting Duck” is its American title), which finally hast its US theatrical release soon. And of course, Huppert also has performances in four other films in post-production at the moment. She also stars in François Ozon‘s latest film “The Crime Is Mine,” which hit French theaters back in March; so expect that its stateside release by the time 2023 ends.
Meanwhile, Wittrock has 2 Emmy nominations for two Ryan Murphy series: “The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” and Netflix‘s “Ratched.” But Wittrock has his share of film role, too, including “The Last Black Man In San Francisco,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “The Big Short,” & more. Upcoming roles of Wittrock beyond “Free Radicals” include Ava Duvernay‘s “Caste” for Netflix, and “Downtown Owl,” a dark comedy set in Reagen-era North Dakota.
What’s not to love about “Free Radicals” so far? Alice Munro’s story is excellent, Isabelle Huppert moreso, and Finn Wittrock deserves a big-screen breakout role. Is Xia Magnus’ sophomore feature where that happens? Stay tuned on that.
