Mubi is nearing a deal for the rights to Lynne Ramsay’s “Die My Love,” in the U.S. and multiple other territories, in a deal amounting to over $20 million. The movie, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, world premiered at Cannes on Saturday evening to a six-minute standing ovation.
The acquisition marks the first major sale of this year’s Cannes. “Die My Love” is based on author Ariana Harwicz’s 2017 novel of the same name, which centers on a new mother who enters psychosis after developing postpartum depression. Ramsay’s adaptation of “Die, My Love” is set in rural America and revolves around Lawrence’s character, a woman who has just had a baby and is engulfed by love and madness, to which her husband (Pattinson) appears oblivious. It marks Ramsay’s comeback to the Croisette after presenting the 2017 thriller “You Were Never Really Here,” which starred Joaquin Phoenix and won best screenplay.
At the film’s press conference on Sunday, Lawrence reflected on her own experience of motherhood and postpartum. “I had just had my firstborn, and there’s not really anything like postpartum,” she said. “It’s extremely isolating … Extreme anxiety and extreme depression is isolating, no matter where you are. You feel like an alien.”
“Die My Love” is produced by Excellent Cadaver, Black Label Media and Sikelia Productions. The producers include Justine Ciarrocchi, Jennifer Lawrence, Martin Scorsese, Andrea Calderwood, Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill.
Mubi is at Cannes with four films in competition, including Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Akinola Davies’ “My Father’s Shadow” and “The History of Sound,” a love story that’s one of the highest-profile films at the festival thanks to the red-hot pairing of Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. Another of Mubi’s Cannes premieres is Kelly Reichardt’s heist thriller “The Mastermind,” which also stars O’Connor, the first production it has developed and fully financed.
