dpEXCLUSIVE: A few weeks ago it emerged that conservative news site Daily Wire had made a starry under-the-radar film by Czech director Vaclav Marhoul, whose hard-hitting 2019 Holocaust film The Painted Bird got tongues wagging on the festival circuit. Today we can reveal a bunch more details about the project.
The Daily Wire’s most recent couple of films, Jonathan Majors starrer Run Hide Fight: Infidels and Danny Trejo’s in-production Pawn Shop, have both attracted opprobrium for their subject matters and both faced temporary shut downs. And yet, despite long being a magnet for controversy, the site-turned-film-and-TV-producer has managed to attract its starriest movie cast to date with Marhoul’s Confession.
Penned by site co-founder Ben Shapiro, their new film stars Rob Lowe (The West Wing), James Franco (127 Hours), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog), Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides), Richard Brake (Batman Begins), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad). Above is a first teaser and below is a first look image.
The logline reads: “In Stalin’s 1938 Moscow, a disillusioned former literature professor, Alexei (Lowe), is arrested and brought to the infamous Lubyanka Prison, charged with conspiring with his dissident priest. There, Alexei faces interrogation by his brilliant and brutal former student, Vladimir (Franco). Forced to the ultimate test of betrayal or conscience, and confronted with his past sins, Alexei finds redemption through truth, sacrificing himself to save others in a haunting tale of morality and resistance.”
The movie is set to world premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival on October 15. Following its premiere at the fest, the plan is for it to open in 100 theaters stateside for one night on November 11, the same day it debuts on The Daily Wire’s streaming platform.
Pic is produced by Dallas Sonnier (Bone Tomahawk) for Bonfire Legend, Travis Mills (Frontier Crucible), Shapiro and Sean Calvano (The Musical). David Guglielmo (The Last Stop in Yuma County), Amanda Presmyk (Dragged Across Concrete), Lillian Campbell (The Pendragon Cycle) also produced.
Behind the camera, cinematography is by Hollywood vet Peter Menzies Jr., production design by Vincent Reynaud, and makeup and prosthetics by Oscar-winner Jeff Dawn. Guglielmo also served as the casting director on the movie.
The project was shot entirely on 35mm film, with production based at Santa Clarita Studios just north of LA.
“This is an incredible story of the human spirit and its survival against those who would crush it,” said Lowe today.
“From a director’s perspective, this film was a truly great challenge for me,” Marhoul commented. “I ventured into a genre I hadn’t explored before: an intimate, dialogue-driven psychological drama set in a single location. Together with cinematographer Peter Menzies, I sought the most sensitive approach to directing and visual style—one that matched the story and characters. A wonderful crew and cast helped me meet that challenge.”
Shapiro added: “It was a true honor to be able to work with a cast featuring Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe nominees, as well as one of the world’s great directors, to make Confession, an extraordinarily beautiful and honest film deeply rooted in faith, morality, virtue, hardship, and most of all, what it means to be a free and decent human being. I couldn’t be more proud of this project and can’t wait for the audience to see it.”
Lowe is repped by WME, Brillstein, and Latham & Watkins; Franco by CAA, Anonymous Content, and Sloane, Offer; Nolte by CAA, Tavistock Wood Management and Jackoway Austin; Leigh by CAA and Untitled Entertainment; Smit-McPhee by Black Bear and Felker McGinnis & Ryan LLP; Brake by Markham, Froggatt and Irwin, and Untitled Entertainment; Hirsch by UTA and Stride Management; Dourif by Innovative Artists; and Marhoul by CAA.
Confession, credit: Daily Wire
