THR is reporting that Scottish star Pollyanna McIntosh has wrapped on her debut feature, Darlin’, which stars Irish actor Lauryn Canny (1,000 Times Good Night, Amber) in the lead role.
Found at a Catholic hospital filthy and ferocious, feral teenager Darlin’ is whisked off to a care home run by The Bishop and his obedient nuns, where she’s to be rehabilitated into a “good girl” as an example of the miraculous work of the church. But Darlin’ holds a secret darker than the “sins” she is threatened with, and she is not traveling alone. The Woman who raised her, equally fierce and feral, is ever present in the shadows of Darlin’s psyche and is determined to come for her no matter who tries to get in her way.
Darlin’, which is a sequel to Lucky McKee’s The Woman from 2011, sees McIntosh (Let Us Prey, Love Eternal) reprise her role, starring alongside Canny and fellow Irish actor Nora-Jane Noone (The Magdalene Sisters, Brooklyn), as well as Bryan Batt (Mad Men, 12 Years a Slave), Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead, Shazam, Halt and Catch Fire), and Sabrina Gennarino and Thomas Francis Murphy, who also star with McIntosh in the hit TV series The Walking Dead.
Andrew van den Houten produces for Hood River Entertainment, with Lucky McKee and The Woman‘s writer Jack Ketchum as executive producers. Nicola Goelzhauser of MPI Media Group will sell the film at the Marché in Cannes.
I’m thrilled to present Darlin’ at a time when audiences are showing their love for entertaining, visceral social issue horror and are hungry for female voices. With Darlin’ I was blessed with a talented cast and crew, including our female leads, DP, location scout and editor, who all came to the project with such passion. It will be an honor to show their hard work, which made the movie the feast it is, and to introduce the enormous talent of young star Lauryn Canny to new audiences.
Pollyanna McIntosh
When I first directed Pollyanna as The Woman in the Ketchum-adapted Offspring, which I also produced, I knew we had found lightning in a bottle with her. So began the dream of a trilogy for the character to live through. I’m honored that The Woman herself, Pollyanna McIntosh, is the one who has written, directed and co-starred in this third chapter. Seeing this talented collaborator take the reins with so much confidence and vision has been a personal and professional joy.
Andrew Van den Houten – Producer
About the Actors:
Lauryn Canny has impressed in a number of short and feature films since her debut in 1,000 Times Good Night in 2013, but is probably best known to Irish audiences for playing the lead in RTÉ drama Amber in 2014. She appeared in a strong supporting role in the Filmbase Master’s film Poison Pen as well as taking the lead in Annika Cassidy’s hard-hitting short film Peel and shining in a central role in Robert McKeon’s impressive short Wifey Redux.
Nora-Jane Noone made her debut as one of the leads in 2002’s The Magdalene Sisters, before gaining greater attention in UK soap Coronation Street and breakout horror film The Descent in 2005. She has also appeared in numerous Jack Taylor outing as well as enjoying a memorable role in John Crowley’s Oscar-nominated Brooklyn.