It’s perhaps easy to have forgotten filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, but he’s done some terrific work. He won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film for “The Sea Inside” (which helped turn Javier Bardem into a bigger international star) and he also helmed one of the best recent horror/ghost movies, “The Others,” which also featured one of Nicole Kidman’s finest performances. Meanwhile, his breakout feature “Open Your Eyes (Abre los ojos)” caught the eye of Cameron Crowe and Tom Cruise who remade it as “Vanilla Sky,” however, 2009’s “Agora” was less successful and came and went (though it did feature an early pre-fame Oscar Isaac performance). But in short, his talent is always one to keep an eye on, and the filmmaker is back with “Regression.”
Amenábar´s penned the original screenplay for this one, and with principal photography recently wrapping, The Weinstein Company have revealed the first look at the film. Starring Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson, “Regression” is a return to genre for the writer/director and it co-stars David Thewlis (“The Fifth Estate,” “Harry Potter), David Dencik (“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), Dale Dickey (“Winter´s Bone,” “True Blood”), Lothaire Bluteau (“The Tudors”) and Devon Bostick (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”). Here’s the synopsis:
Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) investigates the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.
No word on a release date yet, but this one looks rather somber. The fall festival circuit seems too close call for a premiere, so we’ll assume we’ll just see it on its scheduled release date of August, 2015.