New Zealand’s funniest export Jackie Van Beek ( (“Nude Tuesday,” “What We Do in the Shadows”) returns to SXSW atop the cast of “Audrey,” an Australian dark comedy that is headed to SXSW.
Van Beek, whose 2018 “The Breaker Upperers,” was a previous SXSW hit, portrays a forgotten former soap star whose career and life have been derailed by motherhood and suburban boredom. But when an accident puts her 18-year-old child in a coma, the woman takes on her daughter’s identity and gets a second chance at the life she actually wanted.
Other cast also include: Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (“Puberty Blues,” “The Diplomat”), Josephine Blazier (“True History of the Kelly Gang”) and disability advocate and actress Hannah Diviney (“Latecomers”).
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“What begins as a light, sex-fuelled comedy about family soon takes a twisted journey into horror as, like a classic Greek tragedy, our protagonists decide that the only way to find happiness is to destroy their firstborn,” says director Natalie Bailey. She previously worked on “The Unusual Suspects” for SBS and “Bay of Fires” for the Australian Broadcasting Corp. and is now making her feature directing debut.
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Bailey says that the film, scripted by Lou Sanz, leans into territories explored in Gus Van Sant’s “To Die For,” PJ Hogan’s “Muriel’s Wedding” and Sam Mendes’ “American Beauty,” with a dash of Almodovar.
“Visually, I was interested in creating a journey for our family that ranges from dull and disconnected, to radiating and united, bringing them out of the shadows and into the light, only to plunge them back into an even greater darkness,” says Bailey.
Produced by Michael Wrenn, Dan Lake, Shannon Wilson-McClinton and Diya Eid at Invisible Republic and Orange Entertainment, the film sees rights sales in international markets handled by the U.K.’s Bankside Films.
Audrey is an official selection of SXSW 2024 for the narrative feature competition and has its world premiere on Mar. 10. Before that, watch a clip here:
