Can scandalous art still serve God? Does suffering precede all greatness? Can illness be a blessing? In 1950, writer Flannery O'Connor visits her mother Regina in Georgia when she is diagnosed with lupus at twenty-four years old. Struggling with the same disease that took her father’s life when she was a child and desperate to make her mark as a great writer, this crisis pitches her imagination into a feverish exploration of belief.
Acting
Maya Hawke disappears into Flannery's prickly, prophetic skin.
Direction
Ethan Hawke's first feature shows serious literary ambition.
Costume
Crucifixes and cardigans that scream repressed genius.
Director
Ethan Hawke
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Maya Hawke spent months studying O'Connor's actual gait and speech patterns, including her Georgia drawl and the physical toll of lupus.
The film mirrors O'Connor's own technique: characters who think they're saved are usually the most damned. Ethan Hawke essentially made a Catholic 'Russian Doll.'
US
