Malou Reymann's 'Unruly' premieres at Toronto

Malou Reymann's 'Unruly' will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, North America's most prominent film event running this year from 8 to 18 September.

Reymann's drama, based on actual events at a women's institution in Denmark in the 1930s, will take part in the 'directors to watch' Discovery programme.

Also selected for Toronto is Ali Abbasi's 'Holy Spider', which will be enjoying its American premiere in Special Presentations.

Unruly

Malou Reymann's second film after her well-received feature debut 'A Perfectly Normal Family' takes place in 1933.

Malou Reymann

Strong-minded Maren is seen by the authorities to be ill-mannered and promiscuous. Concerned that her unruly behaviour will incite others, she is sent away to a women’s institution on a small island. Here she must learn how to behave as a proper young woman. Sørine is to help Maren settle in, but Maren’s refusal to comply with the system leads to terrible consequences for both.

Malou Reymann wrote the script with Sara Isabella Jønsson. The cast includes Emilie Kroyer Koppel, Jessica Dinnage, Lene Maria Christensen, Anders Heinrichsen and Danica Curcic.

'Unruly' is produced by Matilda Appelin for Nordisk Film with support from the Danish Film Institute. The film's domestic release is set for 9 March 2023. TrustNordisk is handling international sales.

Reymann's 2020 debut feature, 'A Perfectly Normal Family', won the Big Screen Award at Rotterdam Film Festival.

Holy Spider

Also selected for Toronto is Ali Abbasi's 'Holy Spider', which earned Zar Amir Ebrahimi the Best Actress award in Cannes.

Ali Abbasi

Ebrahimi received the accolade for her role as a journalist investigating the serial killings of sex workers in the holy Iranian city of Mashhad.

Iranian-born Ali Abbasi, who graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2011, made his feature debut with the horror film 'Shelley', selected for the Berlinale. His second directorial credit, the Swedish-Danish fable 'Border', won the main prize in 2018 in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Abbasi wrote the script for 'Holy Spider' with Afshin Kamran Bahrami. Jacob Jarek has produced for Profile Pictures with support from the Danish Film Institute. The Danish premiere is scheduled for 13 October.

The final announcements for the 2022 Toronto line-up 2022 will be made over the coming weeks. Read more at the festival website.

Unruly

Malou Reymann, 2023

MAREN, a strongminded young woman, is seen by authorities to be promiscuous and is therefore sent to the women’s institution in the small island of Sprogø. Here she is to learn how to behave as a proper young woman. She has to share a room with SØRINE who has already internalised the story about herself and has learned to behave properly.

Holy Spider

Ali Abbasi, 2022

Rahimi, a young female journalist, travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer targeting sex workers. As she draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder to attain when the murderer is embraced by many as a hero. Based on the true story of the 'Spider Killer' Saeed Hanaei, who saw himself as on a mission from God as he killed 16 women between 2000 and 2001.