Jennifer Lawrence and Justine Ciarrocchi of Excellent Cadaver

Source: Everett Collection

Jennifer Lawrence and Justine Ciarrocchi of Excellent Cadaver

When Martin Scorsese’s book club read Argentinian author Ariana Harwicz’s novel Die, My Love, about a new mother living in the countryside who unravels when she develops post-partum depression, the director immediately envisioned a film version in which Jennifer Lawrence, with whom he was keen to work, would play the lead.

It was the summer of 2020 and Scorsese sent the novel to Lawrence’s New production outfit Excellent Cadaver that she runs with Justine Ciarrocchi.

“He was adamant no-one could pull off Grace like [Lawrence] could,” Ciarrocchi told Screen.

Five years later the film debuts tonight (May 17) in Cannes Competition, directed by Lynne Ramsay, starring Lawrence and produced by Excellent Cadaver, Scorsese, and Molly Smith’s Black Label Media, which also provided financing.

New York- and Los Angeles-based Excellent Cadaver, named after the mafia term for its most high-profile hits – launched in 2018. Several years ago it secured a first-look deal with Apple, which produced 2022 drama Causeway and Sahra Mani’s 2023 Cannes documentary Bread & Roses, about Afghan women living under the Taliban. That film just won a Peabody award and is nominated for an Emmy.

The producers are selling Die, My Love in Cannes. Patrick Wachsberger’s 193 handles international sales and Rick Yorn represents US rights.

Ciarrocchi said their first and only choice to direct was UK filmmaker Ramsay, whose credits include 2017 Cannes Competition title You Were Never Really Here, for which she won the screenplay prize. “Her authentic, ambitious and unabashed sensibility was what the most compelling version of an adaptation required,” said the producer. “We spent about six months emailing, referencing our own personal experiences about women and motherhood.”

The eight-week shoot in Calgary, Canada took place in 2024 when the acting ensemble, including Robert Pattinson, Sissy Spacek, LaKeith Stanfield, and Nick Nolte, were all available. The allure of working with Ramsay meant the cast signed on before reading the script, said Ciarrocchi.

Excellent Cadaver’s credits include an executive producer role alongside Hillary and Chelsea Clinton on 2024 Telluride selection Zurawski v. Texas, in which a group of women denied access to healthcare band together to sue the state. 

The company is now developing murder mystery The Wives inspired by the Real Housewives reality series, which is also at Apple, and sci-fi graphic novel adaptation Why Don’t You Love Me?, at A24.

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