email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

PRODUCTION / FUNDING UK

John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven commences filming

by 

- The Anglo-Irish filmmaker’s fourth feature, starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, began shooting last month in Morocco

John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven commences filming
Director John Michael McDonagh

Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain and Caleb Landry Jones are set to star in The Forgiven, the fourth feature by acclaimed writer-director John Michael McDonagh. Principal photography commenced in the middle of last month in Morocco, the location in which the eponymous source novel, written by Lawrence Osborne, takes place. Said Taghmaoui rounds off the supporting cast.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Marking a more mature project from McDonagh than his last, the irreverent US cop satire War on Everyone [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the film also reunites Chastain and Fiennes, who starred together as husband and wife in the latter’s adaptation of Coriolanus [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. The story follows the impact of a random accident on the lives of an English couple, who travel to the High Atlas mountains of Morocco for a party hosted by old friends in their lavish villa.

The Forgiven is a UK production being staged by McDonagh himself and Elizabeth Eves for their production company House of Un-American Activities, with Compton Ross, of Head Gear Films, taking an executive-producer credit. Osborne, whose novel Hunters in the Dark was also unveiled at last month’s EFM for a screen adaptation, is listed as an executive producer. Moroccan production support comes from Kasbah Films.

McDonagh is, of course, the brother of Oscar-winning filmmaker and playwright Martin McDonagh, with whom he shares a similar black-comic writing style. Prior to War on Everyone, he won acclaim for Calvary [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: John Michael McDonagh
film profile
]
and The Guard [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: John Michael McDonagh
film profile
]
, which both featured a soulful leading turn from Brendan Gleeson. Fiennes has been nominated for two Oscars (for The English Patient and Schindler’s List) and has recently branched out into directing, his latest film being The White Crow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ralph Fiennes
film profile
]
, a biopic of Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy