What Maisie Knew

Divorce can be an ugly thing, especially for a child caught in the middle. In What Maisie Knew, one young girl navigates her parents’ bitter custody battle with innocence and charm. This contemporary version of Henry James’ classic novel highlights the toll that divorce and neglect can take on a child—and the life-affirming grace that a child can bring to a parent.

Six-year-old Maisie (Onata Aprile) is caught between a rock and a hard place. Neither her father, aging rock star Beale (Steve Coogan), nor her mother, contemporary art dealer Susanna (Julianne Moore), have ever cared about her well-being. Their custody battle is just one more fight for superiority in a divorce that has become a clash of wills. As Beale and Susanna raise the stakes for their daughter, Maisie must find a way to coexist or risk losing a parent. Lauded as giving “the most remarkable performance ever seen by a child this age,” Maisie shows that there’s light in even the darkest of situations.

Written for the screen by Nancy Doyle and Carroll Cartwright, and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, What Maisie Knew will see a limited theatrical release in New York  and Los Angeles on May 3, 2013 and May 17, 2013 respectively. This Millennium Films drama also stars Alexander Skarsgard and Joanna Vanderham. Rated R for some language.

 

Love Is All You Need

 

Two lives are about to be turned upside down in Love Is All You Need, a romantic comedy about finding love in the most unlikely of places. After Ida (Tryne Dyrholm), a Danish woman who has just finished battling cancer, walks in on her husband sleeping with a young co-worker, she finds her marriage falling to pieces. Distraught and alone, Ida travels to Italy for her daughter’s wedding, but on the way she quite literally crashes into wealthy wholesale magnate Philip (Pierce Brosnan), who turns out to be the father of the groom. Although Ida writes Philip off as a typical angry and demanding businessman, she soon discovers that there’s more to him than meets the eye. As the days leading up to the wedding progress, the two begin to fall for each other as the rest of the family descends into conflict.

 

Love Is All You Need is a film about “bitter endings and sweet beginnings.” Half in English and half in Danish, this film examines the dynamics of a dysfunctional family and shows how every cloud has a silver lining. Ida is a woman fighting for her life, both literally and emotionally. This is the story of her journey for redemption and love—and of the man whom her love can redeem.

 

Written by Anders Thomas Jensen and Susanne Bier and directed by Susanne Bier, Love Is All You Need will see a limited NY/LA release on May 3, 2013. This Sony Pictures Classics romantic comedy also stars Paprika Steen, Kim Bodnia, Sebastian Jessen, and Molly Blixt Egelind.