Sean Durkin first emerged on the American indie scene when Martha Marcy May Marlene premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival (where he won the Directing award). This established his interest in fear, coercive group dynamics and the lingering effects of trauma, which was followed by the miniseries Southcliffe (2013), and then his sophomore feature in 2020’s The Nest pushed him into the unraveling of a family and that theme would later be revisited in his third feature The Iron Claw (2023). Outside of families and communities under pressure, Durkin looks at repression, masculinity, ambition and the corrosive pull of belonging recurring across his work and his restrained, atmospheric style often lets dread accumulate through performance, fractured perspectives and carefully controlled visual storytelling with his continuous collab with cinematographer Mátyás Erdély. Here is everything we know so far (American Indie Edition) for… Sean Durkin‘s Deep Cuts.
Published in 2025, Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts didn’t need much time to make the rounds as a possible film adaptation with it being announced that Sean Durkin had been set to write and direct the project with Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler cast to star. Due to scheduling conflicts, that pairing was replaced with principal production beginning in March of 2026 in San Francisco.
Set in the 2000s, this is a love story about two music-obsessed twenty-somethings navigating the messy realities of ambition, belonging and adulthood over the course of an era-defining decade.
Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey eventually took top billing and would be supported by Abubakr Ali, Quintessa Swindell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gaby Hoffmann and Devon Bostick.
Editor Matthew Hannam and cinematographer Mátyás Erdély once again return to the fold while Durkin is joined by Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Josh Safdie and Jordan Tappis are the main producers. Musician Blake Mills was brought onto sign the music for the film. Meghan McClure is the Production Designer, and a special shout out goes to Casting Director Susan Shopmaker – very instrumental person in Durkin’s beginnings.
While the company has a lot of stuff waiting to burst out in 2027, we have to believe that A24 have circled a Sundance premiere for this title — Premieres section would be my bet with a possible showcase at the Berlinale as well.
