With her 2014 horror The Babadook, Jennifer Kent planted a flag as one of the genre’s most exciting new voices. She helped usher in a wave of talented female directors, and now five years later she’s back with her latest exercise in terror, The Nightingale. Even the title is kinda scary.
Kent goes in a different direction this time, but the results look to be just as chilling. A period revenge thriller set in 19th-century Tasmania, the film centers on an Irish convict, played by breakout actress Aisling Franciosi (Lyanna Stark in Game of Thrones), who witnesses the brutal murder of her husband and child by a sadistic British officer. The villain of the piece is Sam Claflin, known for his roles in The Hunger Games. Together with an Aboriginal guide she makes a dangerous trek to get vengeance on the man who killed her family.
The Nightingale made its debut in Venice and will hit theaters here on August 2nd.
