WestEnd Films has acquired international sales rights to “The Last Day,” the feature debut written and directed by artist Rachel Rose, and is releasing an exclusive first picture.
The film stars Alicia Vikander, an Oscar winner with “The Danish Girl,” and Wagner Moura, who is Oscar nominated for “The Secret Agent,” alongside Victoria Pedretti, whose credits include “Enemy of the People,” “Ponyboi” and “The Haunting of Hill House.”
Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” “The Last Day” unfolds over a single summer’s day in New York, where the lives of two mothers briefly intertwine. Julia, a writer and mother, is unsettled by creative stagnation, unprocessed grief and the approach of her daughter’s adolescence. An unexpected encounter with Taylor — a labor and delivery nurse in the midst of a postpartum crisis pushes Julia to reconsider the life she has built, and whether she can rediscover herself within it.
The film, currently in post-production, is produced by Academy Award nominees Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler (“Past Lives,” “Materialists,” “May December”), and Mason Plotts (“May December,” “Late Fame”) for Killer Films; David Kaplan (“The Brutalist,” “It Comes at Night,” “It Follows”), Lucie Elwes and Rose. Maja Hoffmann and Lucas Hoffmann of Luma Projects serve as executive producers.
Heads of department include director of photography Eric Yue (“I Saw the TV Glow,” “A Thousand and One”), editor Taylor Levy (“Bodies Bodies Bodies,” “A Different Man”), costume designer April Napier (“Lady Bird,” “May December,” “Booksmart”) and Emmy Award-winning music supervisor Susan Jacobs (“American Hustle,” “I, Tonya,” “Promising Young Woman”).
Rose is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in major public collections including LACMA, Tate Modern and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She has participated in leading international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and the Carnegie International, and is a recipient of the Frieze Artist Award.
Rose said: “Becoming a mother felt to me like a collision between a beginning and a threat, and I knew I needed to write from the existential tension of that contradiction. In ‘Mrs. Dalloway,’ I was struck by how Virginia Woolf reveals Clarissa’s self-erasure not through overt drama, but through the texture of a single, ordinary day — errands, chance encounters — until something immense has shifted inside her. That structure became my guide. This film follows two mothers over the course of one day, using its mundane rhythms to explore what it feels like to lose one’s bearings, to experience rudderlessness and to reckon with how far, and how subtly, motherhood can carry us away from ourselves.”
Maya Amsellem, managing director of WestEnd Films, added: “’The Last Day’ is an intimate and powerful exploration of motherhood and identity, anchored by extraordinary performances from Alicia Vikander, Victoria Pedretti and Wagner Moura. Rachel brings a rare sensitivity and formal precision to the material, creating a film that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. We are proud to be partnering on a project that speaks so eloquently to contemporary conversations around womanhood and creativity and we can’t wait to share it with buyers.”
WestEnd Films is introducing “The Last Day” to international buyers at the European Film Market. The film has been acquired under WeLove, WestEnd’s label dedicated to developing and producing female-driven stories and championing female talent.
CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group co-represent North American rights on the film.