Early this year, Ellen Page announced that she would star in an adaptation of Jean Hegland’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel Into the Forest. At the time, she was the only talent attached to the project; no director, screenwriter or co-stars had even been rumored. Today though, more pieces are falling into place as Evan Rachel Wood has joined as the sister of Page’s character.
Furthermore, Patricia Rozema, who also helmed Mansfield Park and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, is now attached to direct.
Though an official plot synopsis for Into the Forest has not yet been released, more details on what we can expect from the project can be found on the Amazon page for Hegland’s novel:
Set in the near-future, Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home.
Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society’s fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.
Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America.
With these two gorgeous, talented young actresses attached, and an intriguing central story, Into the Forest just shot straight to the top of my list of projects to keep an eye out for.
Are you excited for Into the Forest? If you’ve read the novel, what do you make of Wood joining the adaptation? Let us know in the comments section!
