God’s Country: Maria Bakalova replaces Melissa Barrera in Matt Reeves-produced horror film

Maria Bakalova, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and has gone on to have roles in The Bubble and Bodies Bodies Bodies (and deliver vocal performances in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special  and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), has signed on to star in the horror film God’s Country, which is being produced by The Batman director Matt Reeves.

Bakalova takes over a role that had previously been assigned to Melissa Barrera of the recent Scream sequels. Barrera had to drop out of the project over scheduling issues.

The film will mark the English-language debut of director Egor Abramenko, who made his feature directorial debut with the Russian horror film Sputnik. God’s Country was written by Will Soodik (Westworld). According to Deadline, Bakalova will be playing a young woman who travels to Kentucky to meet her fiancé, subsequently uncovering something sinister beyond comprehension, as her American dream curdles into a nightmare of biblical proportions. 

Reeves has previously said, “Egor is an exciting emerging talent, and I’m thrilled to be making a monster movie together.” So we can expect to see a monster menacing Bakalova in Kentucky… although, despite the Kentucky setting, filming is set to take place in Romania.

The project has secured a SAG interim agreement, so it will be able to go into production in March whether or not the Screen Actors Guild strike is over by then.

God’s Country is coming our way from 6th & Idaho, ZQ Entertainment, Maraboyina Capital, and Castel Films. Reeves and Rafi Crohn are producing for 6th & Idaho, Ara Keshishian and Petr Jákl (who financed the development) are producing for ZQ Entertainment, and Adam Kassan. Maraboyina and Castel are providing financing.

Does God’s Country sound interesting to you? What do you think of Maria Bakalova taking on the lead role (and Melissa Barrera having to drop out of the lead)? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

God’s Country has me intrigued, and I want to hear more about the circumstances that take things in a “nightmare of biblical proportions” direction. I look forward to seeing how this one is going to turn out.