Letitia Wright’s new horror movie starts with a girl kept in a basement for five years

Letitia Wright is heading back to the big screen and this time she’s not saving the world in a superhero suit. Instead, she’s leading In Her Shadow, a supernatural horror flick coming from the people who gave us Obsession, Talk to Me, and 47 Meters Down. If those titles ring a bell, you’ll have a fair idea what you’re in for—bleak premises and a proper dose of scares.

The Story and Team

In Her Shadow is currently in pre-production, with Bankside Films just now kicking off worldwide sales ahead of the American Film Market. The story’s being penned and directed by Rowan Athale—a name that’s probably most familiar to fans of Gangs of London, but he also kicked things off back in 2012 with Wasteland (which you might have caught as The Rise if you remember late-night Film4 marathons).

Now, the plot is definitely on the creepy side. It opens with Annie Cutter, a celebrated author, getting a late-night wake up call from the police. Turns out her estranged sister has just died, leaving behind a little girl who’s apparently been locked up in a dark basement for a staggering five years. Annie, despite all logic, takes her niece in—then starts suspecting there was a reason behind all that cellar-based childcare. Maybe, just maybe, her sister wasn’t entirely out of her mind for keeping the kid away from everyone else… supposedly for the safety of others as much as the child herself.

Rowan Athale, in his official director’s announcement, described it this way: “I’m honoured to announce my next film as director will be In Her Shadow, starring the singular talent that is Letitia Wright, one of the foremost actors of her generation. I’m excited to once again collaborate with Mark and James of Tea Shop, Ed and Richard of Public Pictures, and Stephen and Sophie of Bankside Films, who, coming off the back of both Obsession and Talk to Me, are the perfect collaborators to bring this terrifying, propulsive and emotional supernatural horror film to the screen.”

Wright isn’t just starring—she’s an executive producer on this one with her company 3:16 Productions getting a credit. As for the rest of the crew: Ed Barratt and Richard Wylie from Public Pictures (the same team behind Wasteland), and Mark Lane of Tea Shop Films (who seems to have a thing for people in peril, given his work on 47 Meters Down, Fall, and The Surfer) are all producing. Add in Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green from Bankside Films and you’ve got most of the UK horror production circuit ticked off nicely.

Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films said: “We are incredibly excited to be collaborating on our third film with Rowan Athale, and the hugely talented Letitia Wright on In Her Shadow. Having developed the project with Public Pictures, it is particularly rewarding to see it coming together with such an exceptional creative team. Rowan has crafted a gripping and deeply unsettling supernatural horror story with a powerful emotional heart, and we look forward to bringing this compelling film to audiences around the world.”

The CVs Behind the Camera

If you’re curious, Athale was picked as a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit after his debut and since then has dipped in and out of crime drama and thrillers like Giant, Strange But True, Netflix’s Outside the Wire, The Vault, and the aforementioned Gangs of London. He tends to favour scripts with a dark twist and a British core, so this supernatural direction actually feels a logical next step.

And Bankside Films, besides Talk to Me, have shown they know how to select projects which can make a splash—if not always with huge box office numbers, then at least with genre fans. Casting Wright at the centre, especially with her star only rising since Black Panther, is a smart move for a film looking to travel on the global festival circuit or take a run at streaming buyers.

Letitia Wright is confirmed as star and executive producer of supernatural horror film In Her Shadow, now in pre-production.