Letitia Wright is set to star in In Her Shadow, a supernatural horror film from Obsession producer Tea Shop Films, Deadline reports exclusively. Bankside is launching world sales on the project ahead of the American Film Market. The film comes from British writer-director Rowan Athale, known for Gangs of London, with Wright also serving as executive producer through her 3:16 Productions banner.
Currently in pre-production, In Her Shadow follows celebrated author Annie Cutter, who receives a shocking late-night call from police informing her that her estranged, recently deceased sister had kept her young daughter locked alone in a dark basement for five years. After choosing to adopt the girl, Annie comes to believe her sister may have had a reason to fear the child, and that locking her away may have been an act of protection, both for the girl herself and for everyone around her.
Athale’s 2012 debut feature, Wasteland, premiered at Toronto and earned him BIFA and London Film Festival nominations, and he was later named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit. He called the project an honor, specifically citing Wright as “one of the foremost actors of her generation” and praising the returning creative team behind recent hits Obsession and Talk to Me. Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films, marking his third collaboration with Athale, described the script as “gripping and deeply unsettling” with “a powerful emotional heart.”
The film is produced by Ed Barratt and Richard Wylie of Public Pictures, and Mark Lane of Tea Shop Film, whose credits include 47 Meters Down, Fall, and The Surfer, alongside Kelliher and Sophie Green of Bankside Films, who also developed the screenplay.
In Her Shadow arrives amid a packed stretch for Wright, who returns as Shuri in Avengers: Doomsday, out December 18, performs in The Story at the UK’s National Theatre, and recently stepped behind the camera for her directorial and writing debut, Highway to the Moon. She’s also set to continue as Shuri in Avengers: Secret Wars and future Black Panther franchise entries.
With a horror premise built around questions of protection, fear, and what secrets families choose to keep buried, In Her Shadow positions Wright in markedly different territory from the Marvel universe she’s spent years building her career within.