‘Disclosure Day’ star Joel Coen's mystery ‘Jack of Spades’ lands at Netflix
Joel Coen has another mystery on his hands, and Netflix wants in. The streamer has acquired worldwide distribution rights to ‘Jack of Spades,’ the director’s gothic mystery set in the Scottish Highlands. The film had been seeking a distributor before Netflix acquired its worldwide rights.
‘Disclosure Day’ star Josh O’Connor is part of a cast that also includes Patsy Ferran, Damian Lewis and Lesley Manville. O’Connor and Ferran both appeared in ‘God’s Own Country,’ while his other credits include ‘Challengers’ and ‘The Crown.’ Lewis’ credits range from ‘Homeland’ to ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’ Manville earned an Oscar nomination for ‘Phantom Thread’ and also appeared in ‘The Crown.’
The film takes viewers to 1880s Scotland, adapting Frances Frederica Montrésor’s 1901 novel, ‘The Alien: A Story of Middle Age.’ The official logline describes it as “a sinister gothic mystery filled with intrigue and betrayal set in the atmospheric Scottish Highlands.” Joel wrote the screenplay with Ethan Coen, Eleanor Catton and Conor McPherson. That brings the brothers back together as writers after their separate directing projects, including Ethan’s ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ and ‘Honey Don’t!’
Joel is directing this one on his own, making it his second solo feature after 2021’s ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth.’ That film starred Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, who returns here as a producer alongside Joel and Robert Graf. Steven Rales produces for Indian Paintbrush, while Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin produce for Blueprint Pictures. Donald MacKinnon is executive producing, and filming has already wrapped.
There are familiar collaborators behind the camera, too. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel previously worked with Joel on ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ and ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth,’ while composer Carter Burwell has worked with the brothers since ‘Blood Simple’ in 1984.
Their Netflix film ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ went on to earn three Oscar nominations. O’Connor also has a history with the streamer through ‘The Crown’ and Rian Johnson’s 2025 mystery, ‘Wake Up Dead Man.’
