hortly before the close of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, word began to circulate that a very successful, cash-flush US distributor had snagged the rights to , the fifth feature film by Australia’s Justin Kurzel. Although the film didn’t seem to make much of an impression upon its Croisette premiere, the Spike Lee-led jury took notice of ’s star, Caleb Landry Jones, giving him a somewhat unexpected Best Actor prize. This raised the film’s profile of course, but ’s subject matter also seemed destined to pique the interest of certain aggressively hip mini-majors, so everything seemed to be proceeding according to pattern. Then, there was silence: no press release, no public acknowledgment of the deal. Months later, it was in fact IFC Films that had made a.
