Naomi Ackie (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody) has joined Justin Kurzel’s (Macbeth) sci-fi film Morning, per The Hollywood Reporter. She’ll star alongside Laura Dern (Jurassic World: Dominion), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog) and Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place) in the film.
Morning is a story about “human connection, productivity, and the power of dreams and memories to inspire change” as it features a future where people no longer need to sleep due to a pill and an artificial sun makes daylight everlasting.
Dern’s character Cathy will have helped create this sleepless world while Cumberbatch will play her recently deceased husband Frank and Jupe their son Danny. Ackie will play a woman from Frank’s past who forces Cathy to confront memories she has tried to forget.
“I’m so excited to get to work with Justin Kurzel and this incredible cast,” said Ackie. “The script is so beautifully written and the world building immaculate. I can’t wait to be a part of creating this piece of work!”
Morning will begin production in Germany later this year with Augenschein Filmproduktion and Construction Film producing.
Set in a near future where society has a pill that does away with the need to sleep, the added help of an artificial sun means there is finally no end to morning daylight, living and work. But as a young generation grows up deprived of the world of sleep, is it time for them to rebel and reclaim their dreams?
The story follows Cathy (Dern) — an ambitious, driven early advocate of a sleepless world — who, as she hurtles toward the anniversary of her husband Frank’s death (played by Cumberbatch), attempts to repair her relationship with her son, Danny (Jupe).
But the sleepless universe Cathy helped build is starting to crumble around her, and the arrival of someone from Frank’s past (Ackie) brings up memories Cathy has been fighting hard to suppress. As Danny is being drawn away from his mother into a subversive underworld of dreamers, Cathy must confront the nightmares that have begun to bleed into her waking life and try to hold on to her son. Morning is a timely tale that will appeal to rebellious spirits across generations.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.