Benedict Cumberbatch, Laura Dern and Noah Jupe have climbed aboard Australian director Justin Kurzel’s new science fiction project Morning. The film is set in a near future where society has a pill that does away with the need for sleep. With the added help of an artificial sun, there is no end to daylight and therefore being productive. However, as a young generation grows up deprived of the world of sleep, they consider rebelling to reclaim their dreams.
In Morning, the ambitious and driven Cathy (Dern) is an early advocate of a sleepless world, but as she and her son Danny (Jupe) pick up the pieces of their lives following the death of her husband Frank (Cumberbatch), she finds the universe she helped to build is starting to crumble around her, whilst memories she fought so hard to repress are bleeding into her waking life. As Danny is further drawn into a subversive underworld of dreamers, Cathy must confront her nightmares and fight hard not to lose her son.
Cumberbatch is currently hot property, with an almost guaranteed Lead Actor Oscar nomination coming very soon for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. He is also currently between Marvel projects, having just starred in the hugely successful Spider-Man: No Way Home and will soon have Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness coming out.
Laura Dern is fresh off Oscar success for 2019’s Marriage Story and she appeared in Greta Gerwig’s beloved Little Women adaptation that same year. She also has an exciting year ahead, with a return to the world of dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Dominion.
Young British actor Noah Jupe has made a name for himself playing Americans (with incredible accent work) in the likes of A Quiet Place, Honey Boy, HBO’s The Undoing and Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move.
Director Justin Kurzel has made a series of critically-acclaimed movies based on a true story that have dark and frequently violent themes – The Snowtown Murders, Macbeth, True History of the Kelly Gang and Nitram. He also adapted the videogame Assassin’s Creed in 2015. Morning will see him reunited with frequent collaborators – cinematographer Adam Arkapaw and costume designer Alice Babidge.
Morning was written by Manchester-born writer Sam Steiner and has been picked up by Cumberbatch’s production company SunnyMarch.
Cumberbatch’s producing partner Adam Ackland said: “Morning is a joyful, reflective, and defiant story about a reality not so far from our own where a preoccupation with productivity has destroyed our ability to connect, grieve and love. We cannot wait to see this incredibly talented cast and creative team headed by Justin, Laura and Noah bring Sam’s brilliantly original script to life.”
If you’re as excited for Morning as we are, check out our guide to the best science fiction movies.