Top 100 Most Anticipated American Independent Films of 2019: #9. Sean Durkin’s The Nest

The Nest

It appeared that after winning the first one out of the gate contest, Sean Durkin would finally be moving into a Janice Joplin biopic project, but to our surprise, The Nest was announced last April as the filmmaker’s official sophomore film – a full eight years since his other psychological thriller in Martha Marcy May Marlene (here is our interview with the filmmaker). Starring Jude Law, Carrie Coon and Anne Reid, The Nest was shot in Toronto, Canada around the same time as TIFF, this also moved to the U.K. Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély and film editor Matthew Hannam who teamed with Josh Mond on James White, return to the Borderline Films crew here.

Gist: This follows Rory (Jude Law), an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic ’80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family. As the eerie isolation of the house pushes the family further apart, each person descends into a self destructive cycle, leaving everyone unsure if their family will survive this life altering displacement.

Release Date/Prediction: The Nest could premiere a lot earlier than the 2019 edition of the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, but we’re seeing this as a North American world premiere acquisitions title for Film Nation folks. Both Martha Marcy May Marlene and the gripping Southcliffe mini series (2013) played in Toronto.