Are we on the cusp of a wave of films related to gun issues? It’s beginning to look that way, and what’s interesting is that there seems to be some variety in genre approach. We’re already seeing trailers for the upcoming Miss Sloane, but while that film is an overtly political take on the subject, Winchester is set to come at the topic from an entirely different angle.
Jason Clarke has signed on in what looks to be a supporting role, opposite Helen Mirren. The Academy Award winning actress will play Sarah Winchester – heiress to the firearms corporation behind the iconic gun, and all the wealth and fortune that it brings. While her future should look bright, she’s brought down by the concern that the ghosts of those killed by her company’s weaponry are haunting her with evil intent.
Her family dies and she responds by securing herself in a vast fortress-like building in an attempt to fend off the malevolent spirits that she’s convinced mean to do her harm. Her peers arrange for a deeply sceptical psychiatrist to visit her and assess her mental health – but in doing so, she finds his own beliefs are challenged on a fundamental level. Jason Clarke will play the psychiatrist.
The film will be directed by Peter and Michael Spierig (Predestination), who wrote the script with Tom Vaughan (Playing House). The details so far released are indeed exciting ones, indicating a horror-movie angle on the ever-raging gun debate, as well as the prospect of gripping scenes between powerhouse performers Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke. If we learn anything from these early announcements, it is that Winchester is one to watch for in 2017.
