Author Ottessa Moshfegh, her husband Luke Goebel, and Lady Macbeth director William Oldroyd are teaming up with Neon to bring Eileen to the big screen. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Moshfegh, who co-wrote screenplay for the adaptation with Goebel. Eileen was Moshfegh’s debut novel, winning her a Hemingway Foundation/Pen Award in 2015. The psychological thriller stars Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie, and like Moshfegh’s novel, appears to be an unnerving and morbid tale about obsession. Here’s everything we know about Eileen so far.
Neon drops unsettling Eileen trailer
Neon released the official trailer for Eileen on October 18. The film already enjoyed its world premiere on January 21 at the Sundance Film Festival but will be arriving in the United States for a limited release on December 1, followed by a wide release on December 8.
The intense and unsettling trailer follows a woman living a seemingly mundane life in the 1960s, working at a prison and living alone with her father. She views herself as an “average” person with an unglamorous life. However, things quickly change when the prison gets a new, confident, and alluring psychologist. The two women form a connection, but what starts as a friendship slowly morphs into something more sinister. Eileen‘s trailer carefully creates a sense of mystery, but the snippets it shows and its intense soundtrack confirm that the women are heading down a dangerous path. It truly captures a sense of foreboding as well as some of the chaos that permeated Moshfegh’s novel.
Anne Hathaway leads the cast of Eileen
As mentioned above, Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway stars in Eileen as Rebecca, the glamorous prison counselor harboring dark secrets. Starring opposite Hathaway is Thomasin McKenzie in the titular role of Eileen Dunlop, the prison worker who finds herself captivated by Rebecca. McKenzie is no stranger to psychological thrillers and dramas, as she recently starred in Last Night in Soho and The Power of the Dog.
Also starring in Eileen is beloved character actor Shea Whigham as Eileen’s gruff alcoholic father, Jim Dunlop. The Umbrella Academy‘s Marin Ireland and White Noise‘s Sam Nivola portray mother and son Rita and Lee Polk, respectively. Lee is one of the inmates at the prison where Eileen and Rebecca work. Meanwhile, The Stand star Owen Teague appears in Eileen as Randy, a prison guard.
Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Tonye Patano will portray Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Stevens, two of Eileen’s annoying and nitpicky co-workers. Rounding out the cast are William Hill, Peter McRobbie, Peter Von Berg, Jefferson White, and Patrick Noonan as additional prison staff.
What is Eileen about?
The official synopsis for Eileen reads:
Based on the book of the same name by bestselling author Ottessa Moshfegh. Set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes enchanted by Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), the glamorous new counselor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.
Eileen is expected to closely follow the plot of the book it is based on, which sees Eileen and Rebecca form an unhealthy relationship that gives way to dangerous and disturbing impulses. It’s a complex tale that delves into parasitic relationships, obsession, and the dark turns one might take when they become dissatisfied with the circumstances of their life. So far, Eileen has a strong cast and close connection to the source material, boding well for it being a faithful and disturbing adaptation of Moshfegh’s work.
(featured image: Neon)
