Beatriz At Dinner is in the very earliest stages of coming together as a movie, but it is already starting to sound like an intriguing prospect – albeit one with a premise that is, perhaps, a little familiar. The script comes from Mike White, who co-created the television drama Enlightened. The project also has White’s frequent collaborator Miguel Arteta in the director’s chair, who really began to draw attention in 2002 when he directed the Mike White-scripted film The Good Girl.
It comes as no surprise then, to find that their latest work revolves around a woman finding herself in a tricky situation. According to Deadline, the outline of the story is a fish-out-of-water tale.
“The story follows a holistic medicine practitioner who finds herself a fish out of water when her car breaks down at a wealthy client’s house, and she joins a celebratory dinner party.”
It’s something we’ve seen a number of times before – in everything from The Rocky Horror Picture Show to The Overnight. A person, or persons, find themselves in a house surrounded by people with whom they are largely unfamiliar, and either hilarity, drama or horror ensues. It’s a setting ripe for storytelling, as it generally keeps the action in one location, and creates an opportunity for excellent characterization as the audience proxy (the person or persons) discovers previously unknown things about their hosts.
In this case, Salma Hayek has been cast in the title role of Beatriz – which presumably refers to the holistic medicine practitioner. She joins the cast, along with Chloe Sevigny (Bloodline, American Horror Story) and Jay Duplass (Transparent, Paper Towns). Previously cast actors include John Lithgow (Love Is Strange, Interstellar), Nina Arianda (The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby), and Connie Britton (American Ultra, Nashville).
We can probably assume that Chloe Sevigny and Jay Duplass will play the wealthy client and partner whose dinner party Salma Hayek finds herself inadvertently attending. The question is, what is the cause for celebration, and what will she learn about the people that have been using her services? Unfortunately, there may be some time to wait until Beatriz At Dinner reveals its secrets.
