Emile Hirsch To Star In New Film ‘Past Life’
Known for his performances in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild and The Wachowski’s Speedracer, Hirsch stars in Past Life as an investigative reporter Jason Frey who reluctantly agrees to attend a hypnotism event with his pregnant wife Claira. Under hypnosis, Jason witnesses a murder through the eyes of a killer. Haunted by what he has seen, Jason uses past live regression techniques to investigate a series of unsolved murders from the 80s. But, he unwittingly reawakens a psychopath’s killer tendencies.
Royal College of Art graduate, and director of Grimmfest, director Simeon Halligan brings his design credentials and his deep knowledge of genre cinema to bear on the project. Dean Lines and Ray Bogdanovitch (Hounded, The Banishing) wrote the screenplay with additional material from Halligan. Halligan’s previous feature directing credits include The Bloodland and Habit.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Emile on Past Life. He’s a superb actor who has nuance to Jason’s complex character. We can’t think of a better actor to play the role in this brilliantly conceived thriller,” said Glenn Kendrick Ackermann of Disrupting Influence.
Director Simeon Halligan said, “Past Life is an exciting psychological thriller that combines
the rush of 80s thrillers like DePalma’s Blow Out or Argento’s Tenebrae, with the
conceptual complexity of movies like Nolan’s Memento or Anderson’s The Machinist. I
can’t wait to share this twisty turny mind-bender with audiences”.
“Simeon is the perfect director to bring Past Life to the screen. This movie sits squarely in
his ballpark and reflects his love and passion for dark psychological thrillers. With a
background in art direction and a deep knowledge of genre cinema, we know he will bring
an amazing visual style to bear on the film,” added producer Michael Laundon.
Past Life will be produced by Rachel Richardson-Jones of Grimmfest films, Pierre Romain and Susan Michels of SWE, and Michael Laundon of M2 Productions. Executive producers include Michael Bassick for M2, Sarada McDermott, Angus Finney, and Glenn Kendrick Ackermann. Jason Piette and Ewan Dunbar of Disrupting Influence will be presenting the project at AFM.
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