31/01/2025 - Based on true events, the film will be led by Katherine Waterston and Simon Pegg, with lensing by Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front cinematographer James Friend

Actors Katherine Waterston and Simon Pegg (© Gage Skidmore)

Shooting has kicked off in and around Kent, UK, for Angels in the Asylum, the feature debut by writer-director Rob Sorrenti, who is producing the feature with Heather Greenwood for Keal Productions. The indie drama will be executive-produced by three-time Tony Award winner and Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours), and will star Simon Pegg. The shoot is set to occur in Kent and London, among other locations.

This original story is inspired by actual events surrounding a group of women who were incarcerated by the prevalent mental system for being typhoid carriers. These women did not suffer from mental illness but, over time, were driven mad by their isolation. The story, set in London between 1939 and 1949, focuses on the only woman released from the sanatorium following her daughter's fight to win her freedom.

The film was previously announced as having tapped Katherine Waterston, Pegg, Minnie Driver, Cush Jumbo, Miriam Margolyes and Rose Williams; the most recently announced cast member is Aurora Perrineau (HBO’s Westworld, Passengers). Oscar- and BAFTA-winning DoP James Friend (All Quiet on the Western Front [+see also:
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With Angels in the Asylum, Sorrenti looks to interrogate how abuses of power go untouched while championing female-led narratives of autonomy and agency. Having developed the project starting in 2008, he more recently opined, “Back then, no one wanted a female-driven story about abuse of power, mental health, misogyny and infectious disease.”

Under his Future Time Pictures banner, for which he serves as CEO and founder, Sorrenti has cut his teeth making behind-the-scenes featurettes for several large productions, including the Mission: Impossible films and the Bourne franchise. He has made a number of short films, several of which cover similar hard-hitting topics to those of his first feature, including addiction and the struggles of women, as well as The Kodiak Queen, narrated by Kate Winslet.

Angels in the Asylum was made possible with development support from Maverick1000, an invitation-only philanthropic organisation made up of entrepreneurs. Parkland Pictures is representing the film’s world sales.