Two years after wrapping principal photography, we’re on the precipice of Serena landing in theatres – in the UK. Following a lengthy post-production process during which director Susanne Bier completed an additional two movies, the period drama is still a ways off landing in the US. Does this suggest the editing suite woes are still too dangerous to unleash on the American public? Is the UK cinematic palette somehow more adept at coping with films that some reviewers have called a hot mess?
You’d think that reuniting Silver Linings Playbook stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper would be a shoo-in for the awards schedule. Cobbled together immediately after that flick, production was apparently going swimmingly. Until it wasn’t.
A Depression-era drama based on the novel by Ron Rash, it follows a young couple, Serena (Lawrence) and George Pemberton (Cooper), who run and own a successful timber mill in North Carolina during the 1920s. Their plans for financial security and family are hindered when it’s realized the wife is unable to bear children. No, not as in – she can’t stand the sight of them – she’s unable to carry them to term. He’s harbouring a dark secret and she’s a fierce woman to be reckoned with! Expect some shouting and another eye-catching performance from Lawrence.
Before it receives a critical assessment, ahead of its premiere at the London Film Festival, check out a bunch of new images below (courtesy of Digital Spy and Indiewire). A first look at the movie landed earlier this month with the trailer, which doesn’t make it out to be quite the mess that it’s supposedly going to be.
Serena lands in UK cinemas on October 24th, before its US arrival on VOD February 26th.
