Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård is returning to Scandinavian cinema after more than a decade, taking the lead in The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands, the English-language debut by Swedish-Costa Rican filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesén. Currently in post-production, the gothic-horror feature is slated for delivery in May 2026 and marks Álvarez Mesén’s second outing following her multi-award-winning debut, Clara Sola [+lire aussi :
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Co-written by Álvarez Mesén and Icelandic novelist, poet and screenwriter Sjón – whose credits include Skarsgård’s The Northman and the Un Certain Regard title Lamb [+lire aussi :
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Set in the 1880s Pacific Northwest, the plot centres on a British widower (played by Skarsgård) who hires a Native American governess, raised in a Christian mission school, to educate his two daughters. As she prepares the eldest for an arranged marriage, something within the young woman begins to awaken, calling into question everything she has been taught.

Indigenous Canadian actress Darla Contois (Little Bird), the winner of a Canadian Screen Award, stars as the governess, Isabel. The daughters are portrayed by Bronte Carmichael (Andor, Christopher Robin) and Australian newcomer Lily La Torre (Run Rabbit Run). The cast also includes Native American actor Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant, How to Blow up a Pipeline) and Swedish thesp Pernilla August (Star Wars, The Best Intentions).

“I feel incredibly lucky to be working with a cast who dive into their roles with such generosity, playfulness and openness,” Álvarez Mesén commented. “Darla embodies Isabel with visceral emotional depth, and Alexander portrays the father with a truth and volatility that ground the story. I can’t wait for the film to reach audiences.”

Speaking previously about the project, the director described the core themes as deeply connected to questions of liberation, heritage and embodiment: “The story discusses how to break free from patriarchal structures and whether you can decolonise your own body – if not for yourself, for the sake of future generations.”

Sjón praised Álvarez Mesén’s ability “to bring to the screen something as difficult as the shifting borders between the inner and outer reality of her film’s protagonist”, adding that he contributed “some dark Northern lyricism to Nathalie’s warm Latin American poetry”.

Behind the camera, Álvarez Mesén is supported by an impressive European creative team: veteran French cinematographer Hélène Louvart (La chimera [+lire aussi :
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interview : Zar Amir Ebrahimi
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The film marks a significant step for producer Nima Yousefi, CEO of Stockholm-based boutique outfit Hobab, known for Mika Gustafson's Paradise Is Burning [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mika Gustafson
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fiche film]. Yousefi, who has worked with Álvarez Mesén for a decade, attributes the strong team and complex financing structure to the director’s “distinctive voice”, first revealed in her “spellbinding” debut, Clara Sola.

The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands is being produced by Hobab, and is co-produced by Resolve Media (USA), Quiddity Films (UK), Need Productions (Belgium) and Still Vivid (Iceland). The film draws on an extensive patchwork of European and international funding sources, including Film i Väst, SVT, VOO, Be TV, Proximus, Shelter Prod, Northern Ireland Screen, the BFI’s UK Global Screen Fund, Eurimages, Creative Europe, the Swedish Film Institute, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, screen.brussels, the Icelandic Film Centre, the Icelandic Tax Credit and the Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Location scouting spanned 15 countries before the production settled in Northern Ireland. According to Yousefi, the Belfast area offered landscapes unexpectedly close to the Pacific Northwest’s temperate rainforests. One of the film’s major undertakings was the construction of the widower’s house – both interiors and exteriors – directly on location. “That has given the movie a true authenticity, where you go in and out of the house seamlessly,” he noted.

“What was key for us was to protect Nathalie’s vision and give her full creative freedom. This is what we can achieve within the European funding model,” Yousefi added before a final two-day shoot in Gothenburg ahead of entering post-production.

Sweden’s TriArt will handle the domestic release. International distribution details will be unveiled soon.