While Ethan Hawke is known as a prolific actor, his career as a filmmaker is also quite notable. He’s directed such films as The Hottest State, Seymour: An Introduction, Chelsea Walls, Blaze, and most recently completed Max documentary series The Last Movie Stars. For his latest, Wildcat, Hawke gets to direct his own daughter Maya Hawke in a film based on the works of writer Flannery O’Connor.
Based on Tennessee Williams’ play of the same name, Wildcat takes place in 1950 and centers on the Southern writer’s attempts to get her first book of writing published, soon after learning she’s been diagnosed with the same disease that killed her father.
Joining Hawke in the cast are Laura Linney, Philip Ettinger, Rafael Casal, Cooper Hoffman, Steve Zahn, Vincent D’Onofrio, Alessandro Nivola and Willa Fitzgerald.
The film debuted at Telluride to solid reviews. Hawke doesn’t make the kind of movies that generate a lot of blockbuster buzz, so this is one you might have to seek out. Based on the Hawke track record and the look of this new trailer, I’d say it’s worth the effort.
Here’s the synopsis: In 1950, Flannery (Hawke) visits her mother Regina (Linney) in Georgia when she is diagnosed with lupus at twenty-four years old. Struggling with the same disease that took her father’s life when she was a child and desperate to make her mark as a great writer, this crisis pitches her imagination into a feverish exploration of belief. As she dives deeper into her craft, the lines between reality, imagination, and faith begin to blur, allowing Flannery to ultimately come to peace with her situation and heal a strained relationship with her mother.
Wildcat opens in theaters on May 31st.
