Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner has made her English-language directorial debut with LITTLE JOE, a sci-fi thriller that blasts its characters with a new kind of pollen.
Written by Hausner and Géraldine Bajard, LITTLE JOE centers on
Alice, a single mother and dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value: if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it ‘Little Joe.’ But as their plant grows, so too does Alice’s suspicion that her new creation may not be as harmless as its nickname suggests.
Emily Beecham and Ben Whishaw star in the film, which David Ehrlich of IndieWire said "will do for greenhouses what PSYCHO did for showers." I don't spend much time in greenhouses, so I can just look forward to this as an intriguing thriller.
Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing will be bringing LITTLE JOE to theatres on December 6th. The trailer can be seen below.