Finnish director Laura Hyppönen is readying her sophomore feature, Lex Julia, a psychological suspense drama that has recently revealed its international cast and production team. The announcement was first reported by Variety.

The film stars Sweden’s Christian Hillborg (The Last Kingdom, Fleabag, Young Royals) and Finland’s Jessica Grabowsky (Tom of Finland [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Dome Karukoski
fiche film], Where Once We Walked, Icebreaker) along with Estonian thesps Rea Lest (The Manslayer/The Virgin/The Shadow [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Rea Lest
fiche film]) and Rainer Sarnet (November [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Rea Lest
fiche film]). Lest takes on the title role of Julia, a music producer whose seemingly idyllic holiday turns unsettling when she recognises her friend’s husband as someone from her past.

Hyppönen, who made her feature debut with Live East Die Young (2012), sets the drama on a remote Nordic island. According to the director, the story “explores the dilemmas and differing perceptions of both the victim and the alleged perpetrator, also including the view of the third party – the wife of the alleged rapist”.

Hyppönen stressed her wish to address sensitive topics through the lens of genre cinema. “In the case of Lex Julia, my goal is to both seduce and disturb the audience out of their comfort zone,” she underscored.

Lex Julia is being produced by Merja Ritola and Essi Haukkamaa-Judge for Greenlit Productions (Finland), with co-producers Magdalena Zimecka and Marta Krzeptowska for Studio Produkcyjne Orka (Poland), Marianne Ostrat for Alexandra Film (Estonia) and Daniel Lägersten for GötaFilm, in collaboration with Gila Bergqvist Ulfung for Breidablick (Sweden). Greenlit Productions is also behind Northern Lights, which was recently presented at Helsinki’s Finnish Film Affair (24-26 September – see the news).