‘You Were Never Really Here’ Director Lynne Ramsay Dishes on Upcoming Collabs with Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquin Phoenix, Sandra Oh, Julianne Moore

Receiving a lifetime achievement award this week at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Scottish director Lynne Ramsay teased a slew of projects currently in the pipeline, heralding her much-anticipated return to the directors chair since wowing Cannes in 2017 with the Joaquin Phoenix-starring thriller You Were Never Really Here.

Among them are a second collaboration with Phoenix, who earned best actor honors on the Croisette for that performance, as well as Stone Mattress, a revenge thriller set aboard a luxury Arctic cruise that stars Julianne Moore and Sandra Oh. Theres also Die, My Love, starring Jennifer Lawrence, which is based on the novel by Argentinian writer Ariana Harwicz about a woman living in isolation in rural France who loses her mind amid marriage and motherhood.

Then theres the long-gestating Moby Dick film adaptation that the director has said would transport Herman Melvilles nautical epic into outer space. Ramsay began to discuss the film in Sarajevo with Varietys Jessica Kiang before cutting herself short. I dont want anyone to rip me off, because Ive been ripped off a lot of times, she said, laughing.

Ramsay confirmed that production has wrapped on her latest collaboration with Phoenix, previously announced as Polaris, though she said the film in which the Oscar winner plays a photographer could be released with the title Dark Slides. Its the first time the director will work off an original screenplay since Ratcatcher in 1999.

Joaquin Phoenix stars as a Gulf War vet turned contract killer in You Were Never Really Here. Photographer: Alison Cohen Rosa Stone Mattress, which is adapted from a short story by Margaret Atwood and will be released by Amazon in the U.S., is perhaps Ramsays most ambitious project to date. Its quite a difficult film to make, because its [set on] a cruise ship in the Arctic, so theres a lot of elements, she said. You can only shoot it in a certain time frame. Andyouve got to be in the Arctic and bits of the Arctic are melting in specific places. So its quite complicated, that film.

While all of her star-studded projects are on hold due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Ramsay said the Lawrence-starring Die, My Love is probably next in line. Its quite simple. Its not set in the Arctic. Its not in a boat. Its just them in a house, its just them in a village, so its easy to make, she said.

It was Lawrence, said Ramsay, who first sent her a copy of Harwiczs novel. She just really responded to the material, which is hardcore in some ways, because its about postnatal depression and bipolar [disorder], said the director. But its funny as well. Well, Ive made it funny. I think Ive made it funny. I hope Ive made it funny.

Though the book is set in rural France, Ramsays film will take place in the U.S. and follow a marriage that breaks down despite both partners being very much in love. Everyones had mental health issues through COVID. So it deals with that. But it deals with it, I think, in a really funny way, she said.

Describing Lawrence as funny and really down to earth, Ramsay enthused about the Hollywood stars shes worked with, many of whom have quite literally become part of the family.

I absolutely love actors. Im friends with all the actors Ive worked with. Tilda Swinton is the godmother of my child. Samantha Morton is a really close friend, Ramsay said. And then John C. Reilly, hes the godfather of my daughter. Joaquin, I speak to every day in my life. And his wife, Rooney Mara, shes fantastic as well. So I just like actors. But I think you have to have an honest and authentic relationship with them.

With the current Hollywood strikes hitting the 110-day mark, the U.K.-based filmmaker expressed her solidarity for the writers and actors on the picket line, insisting theyre getting taken advantage of by studios that rely on them to fill movie theaters and boost their subscriber numbers.

I absolutely support this. Im totally behind this, she said. All this AI stuff. Theyll be smashing my film with somebody elses film [using AI]. We dont get any residuals. You sign a contract with these streamers and youve basically signed away your life for infinity and beyond. And I think its really greedy. And I think people should get paid for their work.