Sandra Oh, Julianne Moore to star in adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s Stone Mattress
Lynne Ramsay has signed on to direct the forthcoming thriller
Aux News Stone Mattress
Sandra Oh and Julianne Moore are teaming up and hitting the seas. Both actors are set to join to the film adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s short story (first published in the New Yorker) called Stone Mattress. Director Lynne Ramsay will be at the helm.
The film, which Deadline calls a “blue-chip revenge thriller,” is set on a cruise ship in the Arctic.
Moore will play Verna, who is described as a 60-year-old retired physiotherapist and a two-time widow. Verna joins the luxury Arctic cruise and rubs shoulders with “ a crowd of privileged influencers and wealthy retirees.” It’s on the cruise ship that she meets “friendly and charming” Grace (played Oh) and Bob. Bob, punching way above his weight, tries to seduce Verna who becomes unsettled by his presence and realizes “he might not be the foolish yet harmless man he initially appears to be.” Ultimately, the idyllic cruise is “disturbed by a shocking act.”
Like most of Atwood’s work, Stone Mattress feels especially timely and relevant—which is something that drew Ramsay to the film. “With the current repeal in women’s rights across the world, particularly regarding the overturning of Roe v. Wade in America, this story, with its themes of stolen motherhood and unaccounted sexual abuse, feels more important than ever,” she says in a statement, per Deadline.
“I first read Margaret Atwood when I was a teenager, and her work has gripped me ever since,” Ramsay adds. “She is simply one of the most intelligent, prophetic and engaging writers around and Stone Mattress is another perfect illustration of that. I was immediately gripped by the way it framed the deeply buried trauma of a post-menopausal woman – an age group we hear from all too rarely – through the dynamic and multifaceted character of Verna.”
Ramsay continues, “From its tongue-in-cheek humor to its moments of icy vengeance and delicate portrayal of an emotional repression specific to the boomer generation, it is a story I’ve wanted to materialize on-screen since my first reading. With the current repeal in women’s rights across the world, particularly regarding the overturning of Roe v Wade in America, this story, with its themes of stolen motherhood and unaccounted sexual abuse, feels more important than ever. The opportunity to shoot in the Arctic, on the frontline of the most urgent threat to our world and on the verge of irredeemable transformation, will lend the story another layer of devastation. Just like the icecaps that melt to reveal ancient histories, Stone Mattress sees years of Verna’s pain and fury thaw before our eyes to expose the raw emotion underneath.”
If all goes well, Stone Mattress will be fittingly filmed on location in Greenland and Iceland with a production start date some time in September.
13 Comments
I regularly teach “Stone Mattress” in my Contemporary Lit course. It’s an excellent story and my students love it; plus, the original New Yorker version is accompanied by an interview with Atwood about the story, and a few years ago the New Yorker revisited the story and asked A.M Homes to read it aloud, which is cool to share with students.Having said all that, I’m worried about the story being adapted to a feature-length film. I created a Word file for it way back when, and with single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, it clocks in at exactly 12 pages. Grace doesn’t appear in the story, so that will help pad things out, and I’m sure they’ll add to Verna’s flashback to when she was a teenager (for better or worse), but I could see this going sideways pretty easily. I hope they do the story the justice it deserves.
I love this story so much. Lynne Ramsay has a great way with adaptations, so I’m not overly worried. But it’s true: the source material is as tight as a Ramones song.
Atwood describes the pieces in the collection as “tales” rather than short storiesMargaret Atwood is exhausting. Writes sci-fi that she won’t call sci-fi, writes short stories that she won’t call short stories.
Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar was a weird, enthralling movie. The av club did a good write-up of it, in better days:https://www.avclub.com/the-new-cult-canon-morvern-callar-1798213393
I found the protagonist too opaque and uninteresting. I liked her subsequent films though.
I felt that Samantha Morton made me root for the character, even though I didn’t really understand her
Hey, have you thought about applying for a job at The AV Club? I’m sure they probably have some openings.
I have, but I would want to work remotely, which as I understand might be an issue
Didn’t use to be, but it sure is the case now.
played Oh
Played by Oh.You also copy-pasted some text quoting Ramsay multiple times. An editor should have caught that, if AVC had editors.
or maybe “played Oh” was supposed to be a play on “Play-Doh.” One that would likely cause Sandra Oh great annoyance so I hope it’s not that
America clamors for more of Mr. Bill vs Sluggo!
I can’t be everywhere at once