Writer-director Vicky Wight is returning to the screen with The Body Is Water, a cross-cultural story about grief, healing, and the strangers who won’t let you disappear — and she’s assembled a powerhouse cast to bring it to life.
The cast includes Academy Award nominees Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Origin), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (The Residence), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game), and Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls),.
Set between Houston, Texas and the weathered coastline of West Cork, Ireland, The Body Is Water follows a grieving man who attempts to disappear in a remote Irish village. But in a place where everyone knows your name, he learns that disappearing may be the one thing the town — and Lou, an eccentric young woman with a curious dog — simply won’t let him do.
Aidan Quinn (Legends of the Fall), Eva Birthistle (Bad Sisters), Allen Leech (Downton Abbey), Fionnula Flanagan (Waking Ned Devine), Maria Doyle Kennedy (Orphan Black), and Bronagh Gallagher (The End) round out the cast.
Wight, best known for directing the Netflix rom-com Happiness for Beginners and the romantic drama The Lost Husband, wrote and directs the project. She also produces alongside Geoff Linville (20th Century Women, Nomadland), Syndey Augusta Huynh (The Bling Ring, Bad Words), and John Norton of Red Ted Media.
Executive producers include Stephen Hall and Mike Jones of Dark Day Pictures, along with Coert Voorhees (The Lost Husband, Boy Genius).
The Body Is Water marks another emotionally resonant chapter in Wight’s storytelling career. Her work often explores personal reinvention, community, and unexpected companionship — and this latest film appears to continue that tradition with an international lens.