Eileen (film)

Eileen is a 2023 American period psychological thriller film directed by William Oldroyd and starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway. It is based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Ottessa Moshfegh and adapted into a screenplay by Moshfegh with her husband Luke Goebel. Set in 1960s Boston, the film trails a parasitic relationship between two women working at a juvenile detention facility.

Eileen
Directed byWilliam Oldroyd
Screenplay by
Based onEileen
by Ottessa Moshfegh
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAri Wegner
Edited byNick Emerson
Music byRichard Reed Parry
Production
companies
Distributed byNeon[1]
Release date
  • January 21, 2023 (2023-01-21) (Sundance)
Running time
96 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[1]

Eileen premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023. It will be distributed by Neon.

Premise

In 1960s New England, Eileen is working at a prison when a captivating, glamorous counselor arrives and helps her access new facets of her personality but may be drawing her into something more dangerous.[3]

Cast

Production

In August 2016, it was revealed that Erin Cressida Wilson was adapting the novel Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh for Fox Searchlight and producer Scott Rudin.[4] The novel was ultimately adapted by Moshfegh and her husband Luke Goebel.[5] The mayor of Metuchen, New Jersey, Jonathan Busch, first confirmed that Anne Hathaway, Thomasin McKenzie, and Shea Whigham would have roles in the film.[6][7][8] Filming commenced in late 2021 in Metuchen with filming locations also including South Amboy, New Jersey.[9][10][11][12] It was one of a succession of productions that Hathaway was filming in New Jersey in 2021 and 2022.[13][14][15]

Principal photography on the production was completed in February 2022. It was confirmed that Owen Teague and Marin Ireland had been added to the cast and that Endeavor Content and WME Independent were selling distribution rights.[16] Author of the novel and the screenplay Moshfegh was quoted as saying it was "a very faithful adaptation of the tone" of her original work.[17] In June 2022, she confirmed the edit was locked-in and said that McKenzie as Eileen was "amazing. It's like she was born to play that role, she's just so exciting to watch. And Anne Hathaway plays Rebecca, the sort of femme fatale character. I mean, we're watching it again today and the first cut of it, I was like, 'This is so much better than my book.' So the movie is really satisfying, I'm excited about that."[18] Moshfegh said bringing her writer husband Luke Goebel into the script writing process made the script better because he was able to add another perspective to the story. They began writing drafts during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and avoiding seasonal wildfires from Oregon to Pasadena to Palm Springs with Moshfegh saying to Vanity Fair, "There was a sense of looming danger haunting us, which actually really helped the writing process." The score for the film was written by Richard Reed Parry, from the band Arcade Fire. Hathaway described the project as "Carol meets Reservoir Dogs".[19]

Release

Eileen premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023.[20] In March 2023, Neon acquired distribution rights to the film.[21] It was previously reported that the film could be released in late 2022.[22][23]

Reception

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Eileen holds an approval rating of 88% based on 64 reviews with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads: "Subverting expectations with nearly every well-heeled step, Eileen uses one toxic relationship to explore the unpredictable effect of perceived personal power."[24] On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film holds a score of 75 out 100, based on 18 reviews indicating "generally positive reviews".[25]

Reviewing the film following its premiere at Sundance, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter described Eileen as "a film both malevolent and playful, morbidly funny and disturbing", and commended the screenplay, direction, cinematography and cast performances.[26] In his review for IndieWire, Ryan Lattanzio called the film a "perverse folie à deux", lauding the characters and cast performances (particularly Hathaway's and McKenzie's).[27] Praising the screenplay, direction, cinematography, score and the cast performances in his review for Variety, Jessica Klang wrote: "The moviemaking terminology is apt, because this is a film that is practically drunk on the possibilities of cinema, pumping a recklessly modern energy through a plethora of classical Hollywood genres […] It moves, sometimes sinuously, sometimes with lurching abruptness, from Sirkian romantic melodrama to film noir into black-comedy horror, coming to rest somewhere in the realms of one of the more effed-up Hitchcock thrillers."[28]

References
  1. "Neon Buys Anne Hathaway, Thomasin McKenzie Thriller 'Eileen'". Variety. March 24, 2023.
  2. "Eileen". Sundance Film Festival. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  3. "Ottessa Moshfegh Told The film adaptation of 'Eileen' Starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway as a "very tonally faithful adaptation"". maxblizz.com. June 17, 2022. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  4. Siegel, Tatiana (August 2, 2016). "'Girl on the Train' Writer to Adapt Hot Novel 'Eileen' for Fox Searchlight, Scott Rudin (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  5. Pirovic, Jasmine (June 28, 2022). "Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Eileen' is being turned into a film and Anne Hathaway is onboard". Russh. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  6. Hastings, Christobel (January 11, 2022). "Eileen: Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie will star in a new film adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh's novel". Stylist. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  7. Simich, Ricardo (January 22, 2022). "Spy:Mayor accidentally reveals Kiwi star's new role with Hollywood A-Lister". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  8. Kasule, Melissa (January 6, 2022). "Anne Hathaway drama doubles New Jersey for New England". KFTV.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  9. Kuperinsky, Amy (February 9, 2022). "'Eileen,' another Anne Hathaway movie, is filming in N.J." NJ.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  10. Intersimone, Jenna (January 5, 2022). "A new Anne Hathaway movie is being filmed at a South Amboy bar this week". Courier News. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  11. Thomas, Kayla (January 6, 2022). "Parts Of New Jersey To Shut Down This Week For Anne Hathaway Movie". WPST. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  12. Fallo, Robert; Mooney, John (January 7, 2022). "Oscar Winning-Actress Anne Hathaway Films New Movie in South Amboy". TAPinto. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  13. Meltzer, Marisa (March 22, 2022). "Anne Hathaway on Finding New Purpose and Acting Out WeWork's Real-Life Drama". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  14. Kuperinsky, Amy (June 27, 2022). "Anne Hathaway back in N.J. filming 'Mothers' Instinct' thriller with Jessica Chastain". NJ.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  15. Kuperinsky, Amy (January 19, 2022). "See Anne Hathaway in new series about the fall of WeWork". NJ.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  16. D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 4, 2022). "Anne Hathaway & Thomasin McKenzie Thriller 'Eileen' Launches Sales At EFM Via Endeavor Content & WME Independent". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  17. Pierce, Barry (June 17, 2022). "The macabre mind of Ottessa Moshfegh". i-D. Vice Media. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  18. Greenblatt, Leah (June 13, 2022). "The evolution of Ottessa Moshfegh". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  19. Canfield, David (January 19, 2023). "Inside Eileen, a Gorgeously Strange Ottessa Moshfegh Adaptation". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  20. Patten, Dominic; D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 7, 2022). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Set With Ukraine War, Little Richard, Michael J. Fox, Judy Blume Docs; Pics With Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke, Jonathan Majors; More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  21. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 24, 2023). "NEON Acquires Domestic Rights To Anne Hathaway Sundance Movie 'Eileen'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  22. June, Sophia (June 22, 2022). "ANNE HATHAWAY IS A DEVIANT '60S DOCTOR IN EILEEN". Nylon. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  23. Ruimy, Jordan (June 17, 2022). "William Oldroyd's 'Eileen' Might Be a Fall Fest Sleeper". worldofreel.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  24. "Eileen". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  25. Eileen, archived from the original on January 30, 2023, retrieved February 12, 2023
  26. Rooney, David (January 22, 2023). "'Eileen' Review: Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie Burn Up the Screen in Supremely Stylish Psychological Thriller". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  27. Lattanzio, Ryan (January 22, 2023). "'Eileen' Review: Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie Are Career-Best in a Perverse Folie à Deux". IndieWire. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  28. Kiang, Jessica (January 22, 2023). "'Eileen' Review: Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie Excel in a Wildly Audacious, Wondrously Twisted Period Psychodrama". Variety. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
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