Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2018: #34. Neil Jordan’s The Widow

The Widow

Irish auteur Neil Jordan has been absent from cinemas since 2012’s vampire flick Byzantium (read review). Helming and fostering a couple successful television series over the past several years, including “The Borgias” and “Riviera,” Jordan makes an exciting return to narrative film with The Widow, a thriller headlined by none other than Isabelle Huppert as the titular character who has rather insidious designs on a friendly ingenue played by Chloe Grace Moretz. Filming took place in Dublin and Manhattan in the US/Irish co-production scripted by Jordan and Ray Wright. The two leads are joined by the likes of Maika Monroe and Colm Feore, as well as Jordan’s usual collaborator, Stephen Rea.

Release Date/Prediction: Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game, which netted the director an Oscar in 1992, singlehandedly revitalized the Irish film industry, and became part of the 1990s zeitgeist. Although Jordan is mostly recognized for his various Hollywood studio films, including Interview with the Vampire (1994) and The Brave One (2007), he’s also accumulated an impressive festival resume. Although he last competed in Cannes with the 1986 classic Mona Lisa, Jordan took home the Golden Lion in 1996 Venice for Michael Collins, and won the Silver Berlin Bear in Berlin for 1997’s The Butcher Boy. Although Huppert is a usual shoe-in for auteurs seeking a Cannes berth, we’re thinking post-production should ensure The Widow a slot at 2018 Venice.