Some great news: Whit Stillman is returning to filmmaking after more than a decade off.
According to Variety, Stillman is set to direct “A Night at Claridge’s,” his first feature since 2016’s “Love & Friendship.” The film reunites him with Adam Brody and also stars Laura Carmichael in the lead, alongside Tom Bennett and Susan Hampshire.
Adapted from Patrick Hamilton’s novel “The Slaves of Solitude,” the film will be new territory for Stillman, known for his quick-witted social comedies—this is a wartime drama filled with psychological tension, but it will seemingly maintain the filmmaker’s fascination with social dynamics.
Set in autumn 1943 in southern England during the lead-up to D-Day, the story follows Miss Roach, a displaced publisher’s reader who moves into a boarding house after being bombed out of London. There, she befriends a German woman named Vicki but faces constant harassment by a cruel fellow resident, while the arrival of an easygoing American officer complicates relationships and sparks a tense psychological conflict.
Altitude will introduce the project to buyers at the Cannes market. Hopefully it can start production later this year.
Stillman, 74, has only directed five films in his 35-year filmmaking career: “Metropolitan,” “Barcelona,” “The Last Days of Disco,” “Damsels in Distress,” and “Love & Friendship.”
His career has unfolded at a deliberately unhurried, independent pace. Despite all that, what a unique voice he’s created—one that’s been immensely influential to superfans Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, and Wes Anderson—particularly in their use of highly literary, dialogue-driven, witty social comedies.