Few contemporary filmmakers so richly explore the concept of tenderness quite like Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson. I’ve been banging the drum on their output since 2020’s “Saint Frances” (which Thompson directed and O’Sullivan wrote and starred in) and their deep-feeling follow-up, 2024’s “Ghostlight” (written by O’Sullivan, who also joined Thompson in co-directing duties). Around these parts, any O’Sullivan and Thompson joint is an event.
Their third film, the heartbreaking and lovely “Mouse,” only continues the pair’s ability to make wonderful films that are also deeply empathetic and uniquely humane. The film premiered at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where I wrote it was their “best yet.” IndieWire is pleased to exclusively share both the film’s first trailer and its release plans from the Independent Film Company, which will release the film in theaters this November.
The duo (partners in both film and life) are especially attuned to how unexpected relationships shape our lives. “Saint Frances” was about a disaffected nanny who bonds with her young charge. “Ghostlight” followed a fractured family as they found unexpected healing in live theater. “Mouse” is about a shy high school senior looking for ballast after the sudden end of her lifelong BFF-ship.
The film stars Sophie Okonedo (who is already having a big year with her lauded turn in “Clarissa”), their “Ghostlight” star Katherine Mallen Kupferer (an absolute rising star in her own right), Chloe Coleman, and Tara Mallen. The film was directed by O’Sullivan and Thompson from a script by O’Sullivan.
Per the film’s official synopsis, “It’s 2002, and best friends Minnie (Mallen Kupferer) and Callie (Coleman) are heading into their senior year of high school, with Minnie long living in the protective shadow of the charismatic and admired Callie. When their friendship is suddenly upended at the start of the summer, Minnie struggles to define her own identity and forms a complicated relationship with Callie’s poised, attentive mother (Okonedo), pulling her further from her own chaotic home.”
To say much more would be to spoil the film, which unfolds with all the pains and pleasures of life itself.
“We knew that Sophie Okonedo and Katherine Mallen Kupferer were exquisite actors on their own; seeing their chemistry on set, their playfulness, spontaneity, and dedication to messy truth, was beyond our wildest hopes,” O’Sullivan and Thompson told IndieWire. “Their powerhouse and deeply-lived performances are the aching, hilarious heart of our film. ‘Mouse,’ like ‘Ghostlight,’ explores how we cope and who we turn to in our most difficult moments and the ever-present absurdity of life.”
The Independent Film Company will release “Mouse” in limited theaters on Friday, November 6, with a wide release to follow on Friday, November 13. You can watch the film’s first full trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.