Morrisa Maltz’s debut feature kicks off a limited theatrical run July 28.
This is shaping up as the year of Lily Gladstone. The widely respected star of Certain Women, First Cow and Fancy Dance has been receiving stellar reviews for her performance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which had its world premiere last month at the Cannes Film Festival. And prior to that film’s Oct. 6 theatrical release, she will be seen as the lead in The Unknown Country, the debut feature of filmmaker Morrisa Maltz, which Music Box Films will launch in New York and Los Angeles on July 28.
The logline: “Reeling from a devastating loss, Tana (Lily Gladstone) is pulled back into the world by an unexpected invitation to her cousin’s wedding. She packs up her late grandmother’s Cadillac and hits the open road, driving from her home in Minnesota to South Dakota. After reconnecting with her Oglala Lakota family, Tana sets off to retrace a surreal journey that her grandmother took decades ago, searching for the spot captured in an old family photograph. As she travels, Tana finds connection in the stories of everyday people who’ve settled down far off the main roads including Isaac (Raymond Lee), who provides a pivotal clue to understanding the lost location that could cultivate closure.”
When The Unknown Country premiered last year at the SXSW Festival in Austin, critic Carlos Aguilar of IndieWire raved: “With a face that beams a comforting inner light, Gladstone is a treasure. She exudes the kind of compassionate curiosity for others reserved for those who always listen attentively and empathize with your pain even if she can’t offer any advice. Not surprisingly, director Kelly Reichardt has collaborated with her in stories that revisit the Western mythos with a unique gentleness. In The Unknown Country, Gladstone takes on a lead role with equal measures of vulnerability and playfulness, adding up to an endlessly captivating and tenderly potent performance.”
Here is the trailer for The Unknown Country.