The true story of Florida TV news reporter Christine Chubbuck has captured more than one filmmaker’s imagination. Earlier this year saw the release of the meta-movie “Kate Plays Christine” which is as much about the nature of telling Chubbuck’s story as the events leading up to her on-air suicide. But Antonio Campos (“Afterschool,” “Simon Killer“) is telling Chubbuck’s story from beginning to end with “Christine,” which is riding into the fall season following some big buzz at Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.
Starring Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia and Timothy Simons, the film details the events that lead up to Chubbuck’s suicide in the summer of 1974. As you’ll see in this exclusive clip, part of that journey included a conversation about how her duties at WXLT-TV were going to be changing. Here’s the synopsis:
Rebecca Hall stars in director Antonio Campos’ third feature film, CHRISTINE, the story of a woman who finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a spiraling personal life and career crisis. Christine, always the smartest person in the room at her local Sarasota, Florida news station, feels like she is destined for bigger things and is relentless in her pursuit of an on-air position in a larger market. As an aspiring newswoman with an eye for nuance and an interest in social justice, she finds herself constantly butting heads with her boss (Tracy Letts), who pushes for juicier stories that will drive up ratings. Plagued by self-doubt and a tumultuous home life, Christine’s diminishing hope begins to rise when an on-air co-worker (Michael C. Hall) initiates a friendship which ultimately becomes yet another unrequited love. Disillusioned as her world continues to close in on her, Christine takes a dark and surprising turn.
“Christine” opens on October 14th.