Helming and penning the project will be Oscar winner Sarah Polley (Away From Her, Stories We Tell, Women Talking), with Eilish, per Deadline, currently in advanced talks to play the story’s troubled lead, Esther Greenwood. Bookish Sad Girls™ everywhere will know the plot well: when Esther, a 19-year-old undergrad from the suburbs of ’50s Boston, lands a prestigious internship at a New York fashion magazine, she’s over the moon, believing she’ll finally realise her dream of becoming a writer. But, the reality is a struggle, prompting her to slide into a serious depression. It’s the prolific poet’s only novel, and is partly based on her own experiences with mental illness – it was published in 1963, and she died by suicide less than a month later.
Both Eilish and Polley are accustomed to tackling dark, heavy and complicated subject matter, particularly as it pertains to the lives of women. It’s not yet clear if Eilish will also be making music for the project, though that would surely be an added bonus.
According to Variety, they’ll be joined by Carey Mulligan as Esther’s severe mother, Mrs Greenwood, while it’s also been rumoured that Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie will be a part of the ensemble, too.
The book was adapted into a film back in 1979, starring Marilyn Hassett, but since then, potential retellings have felt somewhat cursed. Julia Stiles was due to star in one version in 2007, but it was abandoned; Kirsten Dunst was attached to direct another in 2016, with Dakota Fanning as Esther, which never happened either; and in 2019, Showtime had begun developing a small-screen reimagining, which was put aside, too. Here’s hoping this movie fares better – if only because this cast and crew feel like a combination for the ages.
