'Little Joe': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and everything you need to know about the sci-fi drama starring Emily Beecham
'Little Joe', an English feature debut from director Jessica Hauser was presented at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and Emily Beecham, who plays the lead character, Alice, won the Best Actress award.
The international drama film toys with the idea of genetic engineering by introducing the "first mood-lifting antidepressant happy plant". An eerie story-line intensifies when plant breeders figure out the bright red flower is up to more than what they bargained for.
Release date
'Little Joe' is set to release in the US on December 6.
Plot
Alice Woodard, a single mother to her son Joe, is an ambitious plant breeder working at a corporation that researches the development of new species. Taking on the role of lead plan breeder in a "game-changer" project, she engineers a bright red flower that has the ability to make its owners happy.
With a slew of these plants being taken care of in a large high-tech greenhouse, she decides to take one home to her teenage son — going against company policy.
After explaining to her son that the plant needs to be taken care of from being fed properly to being spoken to regularly, they name it 'Little Joe'.
As the plant grows in its ideal temperature with all its needs met, Alice begins to realize that the "happy plant" may be affecting its growers and her son in a way she did not expect.
Cast
Emily Beecham
Emily Beecham plays lead plant breeder Alice and went on to win the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. She is recognized for her title role in 'Daphne' (2017), 'Hail, Caesar!' (2016), 'The Thirteenth Tale' (2013) and the AMC television series 'Into the Badlands'.
Ben Wishaw
The character of Chris is played by Ben Wishaw who has won a British Independent Film Award for his role in 'My Brother Tom' (2001). He also went on to portray Hamlet in the 2004 production and received an Olivier Award nomination. He has most famously voiced Paddington Bear in 'Paddington' (2014) and 'Paddington 2' (2017).
Other cast members include Kerry Fox, Kit Connor, David Wilmot, Phénix Brossard, Sebastian Hülk and Lindsay Duncan.
Creators
The sci-fi drama was written by Jessica Hausner and Géraldine Bajard and produced by Bruno Wagner, Bertrand Faivre, Phillipe Bober, Martin Gschlacht, Jessica Hausner, Gerardine O'Flynn. It is director Jessica Hauser's English-language feature debut.
Trailer
Behind the scenes of how fear eventually fades the perception of reality, the trailer dives into the beginning of a new era: the introduction of the happy plant. Unfortunately, it seems that their aim with what they hoped the red crimson flower would accomplish, goes awry.
Where to watch
Magnolia Pictures' upcoming sci-fi drama, 'Little Joe' hits theaters on December 6.
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